Macron signs multi-year kit deal with Congo's sports ministry covering five federations
Image by Macron
Macron has agreed a multi-year partnership with the Republic of Congo's sports ministry, taking on technical supply for the national federations in football, handball, basketball, volleyball and athletics under one government-signed contract. The counterparty is the state, not the federations, a structure that gets the Italian teamwear group five sports for one negotiation and hands Brazzaville a single supplier relationship to manage.
Under the agreement, Macron supplies technical sportswear and will create an official merchandising collection. This will include, technical, management and marketing training programmes for the federations, introductions and knowledge exchange with professional clubs in Europe, and performance-related incentives tied to results achieved by selected national teams. Neither party disclosed financial terms or the length of the deal.
Francesco Ventura, Area Manager at Macron, said: "
At Macron, being a partner means sharing a journey of growth by providing not only high-quality products, but also expertise, training and opportunities for development.
Hugues Ngouélondélé, Minister of Sport and Youth of the Republic of Congo, commented:
"Our partnership with Macron represents an important milestone in the Republic of the Congo Government's strategy for the development of national sport. Through this agreement, our athletes and sports federations will benefit from the support of an experienced international partner.
Macron has been here before, and lost it. The Italian group replaced adidas in November 2019 under a three-year deal with FECOFOOT that covered football alone. When it expired in 2023 the federation's executive committee put the account out to tender rather than renew. The company has now recovered the same rights, plus four more sports, by negotiating with the ministry instead of the federation.
The contract was initiated on 29 June in Bologna, according to Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, a month before Macron announced it. Congolese reporting adds: Ligue 1 clubs will receive competition kit funded by the ministry. Macron has dressed Congo's footballers since November 2019 under a deal struck with FECOFOOT, the football federation, which covered football alone.
Macron, the Bologna-based group closed 2025 with revenue of €244.6m, up 9.4%, and pro forma EBITDA of €51.6m at a 21.1% margin. First-half 2026 revenue reached €117.5m, up 9.8%, against a full-year target of €270m. More than 80% of sales come from outside Italy, through a network of over 200 Macron Sports Hubs in more than 40 countries. Congo rejoins Benin, Comoros and Equatorial Guinea on Macron's list of African national-team accounts, the three it kitted at AFCON 2025 in Morocco, where only Puma dressed more teams.
The men's football side sits 134th in the FIFA rankings, has not played an Africa Cup of Nations since 2015 and has never reached a World Cup. Macron cannot outbid Nike or adidas for rights that are actually priced, so it offers capability instead - management programmes, marketing support, access to European clubs.
FIFA suspended FECOFOOT in February 2025 over third-party interference in its affairs, lifting the ban in May 2025 only after the government returned control of the federation's headquarters and the Ignié technical centre.
Governments are increasingly the buyer in African sports deals. Last month, PUMA returned to kit Team Nigeria after striking an agreement with the National Sports Commision rather than a single federation. The DRC's sports ministry became a premium partner of AS Monaco last year; Brazzaville has now contracted directly with an Italian manufacturer on behalf of five federations. Ministries have the budget, the political incentive and the appetite for visibility that clubs and federations lack. They also have election cycles and cabinet reshuffles, which is why the multi-year framing matters more than the sportswear.
