adminSenior Sports Reporter
SPORTS fans in Zimbabwe have been encouraged to purchase authentic sports gear from official agents of respective international sportswear companies in the country.Neil Nesbitt, the managing director of Lenspruit Investments, the official distributors of Puma products in Zimbabwe said it was imperative for sports lovers to buy genuine products because that contributed to sports growth.
With the 2014 Fifa World Cup underway in Brazil, most sports shops in the country try to maximise on sales by selling replica shirts for teams participating in the tournament but most of these shirts are counterfeit mostly brought in from Asian countries. Nesbitt said while these might be cheap, they did not last longer and did not add to the development of sports.
“Sports fans should buy genuine products reasons being that royalties are paid out to the development of sports in that particular country.
There is no benefit to the brand when counterfeit stuff is being sold, it actually diminishes the brand. While the genuine product is pricey people understand that they are buying quality that lasts longer,’’ said Nesbitt.
With the assistance of the Zimbabwe Republic Police, Nesbitt said they were going to inspect all Puma products being sold in shops in Bulawayo.
If they are found to be imitations, the goods could be confiscated with those selling them facing prosecution under the country’s laws. Nesbitt said they were looking at bringing for sale into the country replica shirts for the four African teams at the World Cup which are sponsored by Puma. These are Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana and Ivory Coast.
Lenspruit Investments imports genuine Puma sports merchandise from neighbouring South Africa for sale in the country. They supply shops such as Edgars, Truworths, The Wearhouse, Fazak, Insport, Giga’s and OK Marts.
derick.khumalo