Wearing the shirt. An apolitical statement?

November 9 – A sensitive row has broken out over Spain’s kit for next year’s World Cup with designers Adidas accused of scoring an own goal.

With the country locked in political division over the crisis in Catalonia, critics claim the colouring of the newly released shirt appears similar to the flag of Spain’s Second Republic during the 1930s rather than the current Spanish national flag.

Spain’s flag is red and yellow and the shirt adds a touch of blue to that, in deference to the kit worn by the World Cup-winning 1994 side. But it has stirred emotions, with critics claiming a striped section running down the side looks purple and thereby resembles the republican flag used by anti-monarchists.

But in a joint statement, the Spanish football federation and Adidas sought to clarify that “the shirt that the Spanish team will wear during the 2018 World Cup, does not have any political connotations.”

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