The Moroccan Ministry of Culture pointed out the undue appropriation of symbols of “Moroccan cultural heritage”, in this case the Zellige.
Le Monde with AFP
Adidas and the Moroccan Ministry of Culture buried a conflict born from the new jersey of the Algerian football team sporting symbols of Moroccan cultural heritage, the German sports equipment supplier said on Friday 14 October. “Following constructive discussions between Adidas and the Moroccan Ministry of Culture, we can confirm a positive resolution of the recent problem of football jerseys” carried by the selection of Algeria, Adidas said in a statement transmitted to AFP.
At the end of September, the Moroccan Ministry of Culture had put Adidas in writing to withdraw its new collection of jerseys from the Algerian football selection, pointing to the undue appropriation of symbols of “Moroccan cultural heritage”.
It is in this case Zellige, a ceramic characteristic of traditional Moroccan decorative art. “The design was indeed inspired by the motif of the Zellige mosaics and was at no time intended to offend anyone,” said Adidas in his press release.
“more urgent causes”
The subject pattern of the dispute appears only on the jerseys brought to the pre-match warm-up, according to a spokesperson for the Herzogenaurach firm. Adidas expresses at the same time its “deep respect for the people and the craftsmen of Morocco” and says “regret the controversy surrounding this affair”.
Greeting the press release issued by what he designates as the “German mastodon of sports equipment”, Mourad Elajouti, lawyer of the Moroccan Ministry of Culture, said that the case will have “highlighted the importance To defend our cultural heritage “and” the ancestral know-how of Moroccan crafts “, in a press release transmitted to AFP.
Following the formal notice sent by the latter to Adidas, social networks and the Moroccan media had reacted, Internet users believing that there were “more urgent causes” to defend in Morocco.
Could this case know another twist? The Algerian Football Federation is not satisfied with Adidas’ services and thinks of the contract, according to local media saying that the FAF will return to the supplier Puma. Adidas “does not take part in press speculations,” said a spokesperson.