Nigeria will no longer be wearing this partocular kit

The US-based sportswear manufacturer decided not to renew their sponsorship of the Super Eagles after a nine-year association with the team.

Nike took up sponsorship of the team after their impressive World Cup debut in America in 1994, where they narrowly missed out on a quarter-final place.

But the company's London-based PR manager Simon Charlesworth said they took a decision not to renew the kit deal when the contract came to an end in August.

He said it had nothing to do with the dwindling fortunes of the national team.

It was time to re-focus where our sponsorships go Nike spokesman Simon Charlesworth

Nigeria did not go beyond the preliminary round at the 2002 World Cup finals and have suffered a number of disappointing results in recent friendly internationals, including a 3-0 loss to Japan.

"It was purely a business decision. We re-look at these sponsorship deals every year and decided it was time to re-focus where our sponsorships go," Charlesworth insisted.

"It is nothing against Nigeria and we have not given that sponsorship to another team."

However, Charlesworth said that Nike would support the Super Falcons, Nigeria's female team, at the upcoming World Cup in the United States.

"We have a 'gift a kit' deal with the women, which means they will wear a Nike kit at the tournament," he added.

The Nigeria Football Association is reportedly in discussions with a number of other kit suppliers and hopes to have a new deal in place for next year's Nations Cup finals in Tunisia.