German football authorities will redesign the number ‘4’ on Adidas national shirts after the controversy over the similarity with the symbol used by the SS, the Nazi paramilitary units.
The German Football Association (DFB) made the announcement after social media users began using an online customization service to create T-shirts with the number ’44’, underlining the similarity with the Schutzstaffel logo.
In a statement published on “. “Together with our partner 11teamsports, we will develop an alternative design for the number four and submit it to the UEFA rules,” the DFB said.
Although the 44 is not currently used by the German men’s or women’s teams, official uniform supplier Adidas has allowed customers to personalize jerseys with a number, from 00 to 99, and a name up to 10 letters long. The resulting images generated by Adidas’ online store were then shared widely online.
Adidas spokesman Oliver Bruggen told German media that the sportswear giant would “block the number 44 as quickly as possible”, adding: “As a company we actively oppose xenophobia, anti-semitism, violence and ‘hate in any form’.
As of Tuesday, the option to customize the German team’s jerseys has been removed from Adidas’ websites, although it remains active for other nations’ kits.