The German equipment manufacturer Adidas has unveiled the training jersey of the Algerian selection, less than four months from the end of their collaboration. A new tunic that has led to a controversy with one of its neighboring countries…
If it will not participate in the next World Cup in Qatar, the Algerian Football Federation is lucky to have a new jersey with its equipment supplier adidas, despite the end of the contract between the two parties on December 31. Indeed, the body has indeed launched a new call for tenders after the announcement of the end of the collaboration with the German company.
After unveiling its latest official shirt in September, already worn during the victories against Guinea and Nigeria, the FAF also presented its new training shirt, also used during the last international break. Its design has also caused controversy on the other side of the western border of the country.
A “cultural appropriation” for Morocco
Indeed, the jersey presents “zellige” motifs (ceramics of the traditional decorative art of North Africa), in blue and white, accompanied by yellow and turquoise. Colors found in particular in the mosaics of the Zianide Royal Palace, El Mechouar de Tlemcen, a city in the northeast of the country, which was built in the 13th century. However, this decoration did not please its neighbor to the west: Morocco.
Indeed, the lawyer of the Moroccan Federation denounces “a cultural appropriation and an attempt to steal a motif from Moroccan cultural heritage to use it outside its context”. Me Mourad Eladditioni demanded the withdrawal within a fortnight of the jerseys by the German sports equipment manufacturer who defended himself by explaining that he drew his inspiration from the palace of Mechouar in Tlemcen, in the northwest of Algeria.
