- Written by Tom Espiner
- BBC News business reporter
image source, Getty Images
Adidas has been supplying uniforms to the German national team for over 70 years.
The German Football Association (DFB)'s decision to switch from Adidas as its national team uniform supplier has been heavily criticized by politicians.
The contract will be handed over from the German company to the American company Nike from 2027.
Economy Minister Robert Herbeck said “a little more local patriotism would have been nice” and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said the decision was “wrong”.
The DFB said the deal makes financial sense and will support grassroots German football.
Adidas has been supplying kits to the German national soccer team for over 70 years.
However, reports in the German press suggest that Nike has agreed to pay around €100m (£86m, $108m) a year to supply the kit, double the €50m paid by Adidas. became.
The deal, announced Thursday, was met with disappointment from German politicians on the left and right.
“It's almost impossible to imagine a German jersey without the three stripes,” Habeck said. “For me, Adidas and black, red and gold have always gone together. It's part of the German identity.”
and the Prime Minister of Bavaria Markus Söder said: The national team always plays wearing Adidas' three stripes. “That was as obvious as the fact that the ball was round and the fact that the game lasted 90 minutes,” he said.
“The success story began in 1954 with an unforgettable World Cup victory that gave our country renewed confidence. That is why it is wrong, disappointing and incomprehensible that this story ends now. ”
He said German football should not be “a pawn in an international corporate battle” and that “commerce is not everything.”
DFB told X. The company said it understood the emotional reaction to the decision and said switching suppliers for the first time in 70 years was a “drastic move” that “will not leave us cold.”
However, the newspaper said that the grassroots of German football, which includes “more than 24,000 football clubs, 2.2 million active players, numerous volunteers and around 55,000 referees”, is funded by the DFB. .
“Given this background, the DFB has to make economic decisions,” he said. “Nike made the highest bid to date in a transparent and non-discriminatory bidding process.”
“Our future partnership with Nike will ensure that we continue to deliver on our core mission in football for the next 10 years,” he added.
The announcement of the deal with Nike comes months before Euro 2024. The German men's team uses the Adidas headquarters in Herzogenaurach, near Nuremberg, as its home base for tournaments hosted by Germany.
Adidas said it would not comment on contract details.
The controversy over Germany's uniforms arose after an English politician criticized Nike's design for the England team uniform.
The FA defended the design, saying it was “not the first time” different colors had been used.
