Puma has restructured its European leadership, appointing Fokko de Rooij as managing director (MD) Europe from 1 October 2026 and Daniel Pustina as cluster central MD.
De Rooij will report to Puma chief executive Arthur Hoeld, who has temporarily taken on chief commercial officer responsibilities pending a permanent appointment to the role.
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De Rooij spent his career at Nike across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), China and the company’s global team, most recently serving as EMEA sales vice-president.
He departed Nike last year and has since worked as an independent adviser to chief executives and boards within the sporting goods and fashion sector.
In his new role, Pustina will oversee the DACH [Germany, Austria, Switzerland], Benelux [Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg], Eastern Europe and Ukraine markets, reporting to de Rooij.
He has held several positions at Puma since 2020, including managing director Oceania based in Melbourne, and previously led operations across DACH and Central Europe.
Hoeld said: “The European market is a key pillar for Puma. That’s why I am happy we have found two leaders to advance the business in line with our strategic priorities. With Fokko, we have found an internationally experienced leader with a successful track record of leading organisations through large-scale transformations.
“At the same time, Daniel is well positioned to drive Puma’s commercial performance in the important cluster central, given his deep understanding of the Central European market.”
Puma’s remaining two European clusters retain their current leadership.
Christophe Cance continues as head of Cluster South, covering France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, while Lucynda Davies remains head of Cluster North, covering the UK and Ireland, and the Nordics. Both now report to de Rooij.
De Rooij takes over from Javier Ortega while Pustina succeeds Bas van den Bemt; both departed Puma this month.
The leadership changes follow Puma’s latest quarterly results, which showed a 9.4% year-on-year decline in currency-adjusted sales for the second quarter of 2026.
The company attributed the fall mainly to ongoing business “reset” measures and weaker consumer demand.
Total currency-adjusted sales for the quarter stood at €1.69bn ($1.94bn).
Earlier this year, ANTA Sports agreed to acquire a 29.06% stake in Puma from Groupe Artémis, the investment vehicle of the Pinault family, in an all-cash transaction valued at €1.5bn.
