The new collection of sports uniforms of the Algerian selection is controversial. Rabat claims from the German sports equipment manufacturer Adidas, the withdrawal within two weeks of the new kit of the Fennecs “inspired by the art of Moroccan zellige” of Fennecs.
Adidas has a fortnight to withdraw the new collection of shirts of the Algerian football selection. This is the injunction made this Thursday, September 29 to the German giant of sports equipment by the Moroccan Ministry of Culture. The latter accuses him of having unduly appropriated symbols of “Moroccan cultural heritage“.
In a formal notice sent via email and bailiff to the CEO of Adidas Kasper Rorsted, the Moroccan lawyer, Me Mourad Elajouti, denounced “a cultural appropriation and an attempt to steal a motive of the Moroccan cultural heritage to use it out of its context”.
A source approached by AFP within the Moroccan Ministry of Culture believes “it is a theft of patterns inspired by the Moroccan [céramique caractéristique de l’art décoratif traditionnel marocain]which appear on sports uniforms of Algeria, which has prompted the ministry to act urgently .
Me Mourad Elajouti, the lawyer of the Moroccan ministry intends to go further. He threatens to bring the case “before the organizations related to the protection of heritage and copyright, UNESCO and WIPO [Organisation mondiale de la propriété intellectuelle],to protect the elements of the Moroccan cultural heritage from illicit attempts of appropriation”.
It should be recalled that a photo of the new collection of sports uniforms of the Fennecs was presented on September 23 on Twitter by Adidas. According to the German sports equipment manufacturer, this new design of the Algerian eleven for the 2022-2023 season, draws its inspiration from the palace of Mechouar in Tlemcen, in northwestern Algeria.
Posted by Afro impact
