Adidas confirms Algerian football shirt inspired by Moroccan art
Adidas acknowledged on Friday that the design of its new jersey collection for the Algerian national football team was inspired by Morocco’s zellige mosaic pattern, resolving a dispute with the Moroccan government which had accused the sportswear company of of “cultural appropriation” of its heritage.
Morocco’s Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication last month demanded that Adidas withdraw the new collection from the market, alleging that the design of the rival North African team’s jerseys depicts a traditional mosaic of tiles. earthenware, known in Morocco as zellige.
A Moroccan government lawyer, Mourad ElAddi, sent “a legal warning” to Adidas on September 30, demanding that the German company withdraw the collection within two weeks or issue a statement “to identify Morocco’s zellige art as a source of inspiration”. for the design of the Algerian team jerseys.
Adidas said in a statement on Friday that “the design was indeed inspired by the zellige mosaic pattern, and was at no time intended to offend anyone.” The statement also confirmed “a positive resolution to the recent issue of football shirts”.
The company added that it has “deep respect for the people and artisans of Morocco”, prompting officials from the North African country to express pride in its efforts to defend Morocco’s cultural heritage on the world stage.
“This case has demonstrated to us in a tangible way the importance of protecting Morocco’s cultural heritage,” ElAddi, the government lawyer, said in a statement on Friday. The jersey dispute was resolved favorably to highlight “the central role that Morocco plays in the region in defending intangible cultural heritage against attempts at cultural appropriation,” he said.
The art and craft of zellige are present and practiced throughout North Africa and in Andalusia, an autonomous region of Spain.
Decades-old tensions between Morocco and Algeria have escalated in recent years. They largely stem from a dispute over Western Sahara, a territory annexed by Morocco in 1975. The Sahrawis of the Algeria-backed Polisario Front have been calling for independence from the region for decades.
Adidas unveiled the new design last month, saying on its Middle East and North Africa Instagram account that the “Algerian culture clothing collection” was inspired by the “architectural design of the iconic El Mechouar Palace” in the city of Tlemcen, in northern Algeria.
