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German soccer authorities redesign number 4 on national jerseys due to Nazi resemblance

Published: 02 April 2024 at 11:16

Soccer

The German Football Association (DFB) announced the redesign of the number 4 on the national jerseys after it was pointed out that it resembled the logo used by Nazi paramilitary units. Social media users highlighted the similarity to the Schutzstaffel (SS) logo, prompting Adidas to block the number 44 on customizable jerseys. The DFB submitted numbers 1 to 26 for review to UEFA, with no initial concerns. The new uniforms were unveiled in late March and will be worn by both the men's and women's teams at the 2024 UEFA European Championship hosted by Germany.

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Adidas bans fans from buying German football kits with number 44 over Nazi symbol resemblance


Adidas has prohibited the customization of German football kits with the number 44 due to its similarity to the symbol used by Nazi SS units during World War II. The kit's design, including the use of pink for away colors, has sparked controversy. Despite criticism, Adidas denies intentional resemblance to Nazi symbols and emphasizes its commitment to opposing xenophobia and anti-Semitism. Additionally, the German Football Association (DFB) has halted the sale of jerseys with number 44 in response to public backlash. Germany will host the European Football Championship this year, with criticism directed at the decision to switch kit manufacturers from Adidas to Nike in 2027.

Adidas Faces Defeat as Nike Wins German National Soccer Team Kit Supply Contract


German sportswear giant Adidas lost the contract to supply kits for the German Football Association (DFB) to Nike, ending a seven-decade partnership and marking a financial blow for Adidas. The switch to Nike was based on the US company's superior financial offer and vision for developing women's football and grassroots sports in Germany. German politicians criticized the decision, with Economy Minister Robert Habeck expressing disappointment in the loss of a piece of German identity. Nike's deal with the DFB is reported to be worth around €100 million per year, double the amount paid by Adidas.

Football in Germany (Wikipedia)


Football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association (German: Deutscher Fußball-Bund or DFB) is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members (roughly eight percent of the population) organized in over 31,000 football clubs. There is a league system, with the Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga on top. The winner of the Bundesliga is crowned the German football champion. Additionally, there are national cup competitions, most notably the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) and DFL-Supercup (German Supercup).The Germany national football team has won four FIFA World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014), being the joint-second most successful nation in the tournament only surpassed by Brazil. It also holds a record (tied with Spain) three UEFA European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996), and won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017..The Germany women's national football team has won two FIFA Women's World Cups (2003, 2007) and a record eight UEFA European Women's Championships (1989, 1991, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009, 2013), as well as a gold medal in the Summer Olympics in 2016. Germany was the first nation to win both the men's and women's World Cup. No team has more combined men's and women's World Cup championships, and only the United States has won more combined men's and women's regional/continental championships (United States 12 in CONCACAF, Germany 11 in UEFA). Germany was the host of the 1974 and 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 1988, and the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup. They also hosted the 1989, 1995 and 2001 UEFA European Women's Championship, and the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Germany will host UEFA Euro 2024 after beating out rival Turkey by 8 votes (12–4).

German Football Association (Wikipedia)


The German Football Association (German: Deutscher Fußball-Bund [ˈdɔʏtʃɐ ˈfuːsbalˌbʊnt]; DFB [ˌdeːʔɛfˈbeː] ) is the governing body of football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the men's and women's national teams. The DFB headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main. Sole members of the DFB are the German Football League (German: Deutsche Fußball Liga; DFL), organising the professional Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga, along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising the semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a combined number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members, making the DFB the single largest sports federation in the world.

Germany national football team (Wikipedia)


The Germany national football team (German: Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund), founded in 1900. Between 1949 and 1990, separate German national teams were recognised by FIFA due to Allied occupation and division: the DFB's team representing the Federal Republic of Germany (commonly referred to as West Germany in English between 1949 and 1990), the Saarland team representing the Saar Protectorate (1950–1956) and the East Germany team representing the German Democratic Republic (1952–1990). The latter two were absorbed along with their records; the present team represents the reunified Federal Republic. The official name and code "Germany FR (FRG)" was shortened to "Germany (GER)" following reunification in 1990.Germany is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014), tied with Italy, and only one less than the most successful team, Brazil. Having won three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996) Germany is along with Spain the record holder in that international competition. Germany won also a Confederations Cup (2017). They have also been runners-up at the European Championship three times, and four times at the World Cup, with a further four third-place finishes at the World Cup. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976. Germany is also one of the only two nations to have won both the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women's World Cup (the other being Spain). By combined World Cups, Germany stands as the most successful football nation in history with six World Cups – four for the men's team and two for the women's. At the end of the 2014 World Cup, Germany earned the second highest Elo rating of any national football team in history, with 2,223 points. Germany is also the only European nation that has won a FIFA World Cup in the Americas.

Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel (Wikipedia)


The uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel (SS) served to distinguish its Nazi paramilitary ranks between 1925 and 1945 from the ranks of the Wehrmacht (the German armed forces from 1935), the German state, and the Nazi Party.

Adidas Brazuca (Wikipedia)


The Adidas Brazuca (Portuguese pronunciation: [bɾɐˈzukɐ]) was the official match ball of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which was held in Brazil. It is designed by the company Adidas, a FIFA Partner and FIFA World Cup official match ball supplier since 1970.

Adidas (Wikipedia)


Adidas AG (German pronunciation: [ˈʔadiˌdas] ; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the world, after Nike. It is the holding company for the Adidas Group, which also owns an 8.33% stake of the football club Bayern München, and Runtastic, an Austrian fitness technology company. Adidas's revenue for 2018 was listed at €21.915 billion.The company was started by Adolf Dassler in his mother's house. He was joined by his elder brother Rudolf in 1924 under the name Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik ("Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory"). Dassler assisted in the development of spiked running shoes (spikes) for multiple athletic events. To enhance the quality of spiked athletic footwear, he transitioned from a previous model of heavy metal spikes to utilising canvas and rubber. Dassler persuaded U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens to use his handmade spikes at the 1936 Summer Olympics. In 1949, following a breakdown in the relationship between the brothers, Adolf created Adidas and Rudolf established Puma, which became Adidas's business rival.The three stripes are Adidas's identity mark, having been used on the company's clothing and shoe designs as a marketing aid. The branding, which Adidas bought in 1952 from Finnish sports company Karhu Sports for the equivalent of €1,600 and two bottles of whiskey, became so successful that Dassler described Adidas as "The three stripes company".

List of German football champions (Wikipedia)


The German football champions are the annual winners of the highest association football competition in Germany.

UEFA Euro 2024 (Wikipedia)


The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the men's national teams of its member associations. Germany will host the tournament, which is scheduled to take place from 14 June to 14 July 2024 and the winner will later compete in the 2025 CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions against the 2024 Copa América winner.It will be the third time that European Championship matches are played on German territory and the second time in reunified Germany, as the former West Germany hosted the tournament's 1988 edition, and four matches of the multi-national Euro 2020 were played in Munich. It will be the first time the competition is held in what was formerly East Germany with Leipzig as a host city, as well as the first time that a reunified Germany serves as a solo host nation. The tournament will return to its usual four-year cycle, after the 2020 edition was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Italy are the defending champions, having won the 2020 tournament after beating England on penalties in the final.

DFB-Pokal (Wikipedia)


The DFB-Pokal (German: [ˈdeː ʔɛf beː poˈkaːl]), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga along with the four best teams from the 3. Liga. It is considered the second-most important club title in German football after the Bundesliga championship. Taking place from August until May, the winner qualifies for the DFL-Supercup and the UEFA Europa League unless the winner already qualifies for the UEFA Champions League in the Bundesliga.The competition was founded in 1935, then called the Tschammer-Pokal. The first titleholders were 1. FC Nürnberg. In 1937, Schalke 04 were the first team to win the double. The Tschammer-Pokal was suspended in 1944 due to World War II and disbanded following the demise of Nazi Germany. In 1952–53, the cup was reinstated in West Germany as the DFB-Pokal, named after the DFB, and was won by Rot-Weiss Essen. (FDGB-Pokal, the East German equivalent, started in 1949 and operated through the 1991 season, when it merged with the DFB-Pokal).Bayern Munich have won a record 20 titles. The current holders are RB Leipzig, who beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0 in the 2023 final to win their second consecutive title. Fortuna Düsseldorf hold the record for most consecutive tournament game wins (18) between 1978 and 1981, winning the cup in 1979 and 1980.

Adidas Jabulani (Wikipedia)


The Jabulani ( JAB-yuu-LAH-nee, Zulu: [dʒaɓuˈlaːni]) was a football manufactured by Adidas. It was the official match ball for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.The ball is made from eight spherically moulded panels and has a textured surface intended to improve aerodynamics. It was consequently developed into the Adidas Tango 12 series of footballs.Jabulani, meaning "be happy!" in Zulu, is the imperative plural form of the verb jabula "to be happy". Its design was much maligned by players at the World Cup, and production ceased after two years.

Nazi symbolism (Wikipedia)


The 20th-century German Nazi Party made extensive use of graphic symbols, especially the swastika, notably in the form of the swastika flag, which became the co-national flag of Nazi Germany in 1933, and the sole national flag in 1935. A very similar flag had represented the Party beginning in 1920.Nazi symbols and additional symbols have subsequently been used by neo-Nazis.

UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying (Wikipedia)


The UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament is a football competition that is being played from March 2023 to March 2024 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams that will join the automatically qualified host team Germany in the UEFA Euro 2024 final tournament. The competition is linked with the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League, which gives countries a secondary route to qualify for the final tournament.A total of 53 UEFA member associations entered the qualifying process. The draw for the qualifying group stage took place at the Festhalle in Frankfurt on 9 October 2022.

German soccer authorities redesign number 4 on national jerseys due to Nazi resemblance German soccer authorities redesign number 4 on national jerseys due to Nazi resemblance German soccer authorities redesign number 4 on national jerseys due to Nazi resemblance

SOURCES

Business Insider

Adidas is banning the number '44' on German soccer team jerseys over concerns that the design looks like the Nazi SS flag

Business Insider

Daily Mail

Inside the controversial history of Adidas after new 'Nazi' row

Arthur Parashar

CNN

Germany to redesign Adidas soccer jersey numbering amid Nazi symbol controversy | CNN

Oscar Holland

NY Post

Adidas bans number 44 on German soccer jerseys over concerns it resembles Nazi SS symbol

NY Post

Washington Post

German soccer rethinking font design for jerseys after Nazi comparisons

Washington Post

Daily Mail

German FA to redesign Germany kit over Nazi symbolism

Arthur Parashar

Gizmodo

Adidas Bans '44' on Germany's Team Jerseys After Historian Says It Looks Like a Nazi Symbol

NBC

Supporting the team or the SS? German soccer jersey with No. 44 pulled over Nazi symbolism

NBC

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Wikipedia

Football in Germany

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Wikipedia

German Football Association

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Wikipedia

Germany national football team

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Uniforms and insignia of the Schutzstaffel

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Adidas Brazuca

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Adidas

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Wikipedia

List of German football champions

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Wikipedia

UEFA Euro 2024

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Wikipedia

DFB-Pokal

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Wikipedia

Adidas Jabulani

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Nazi symbolism

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UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying

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