FIFA forces Haiti to change ‘political’ jersey design to compete in World Cup
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The jerseys, made by sportswear brand Saeta, featured imagery from the Haitian Revolution.
Haiti’s soccer team was forced to alter its jersey ahead of the World Cup, as its original design was rejected for having political imagery.
The uniforms, produced by the sportswear company Saeta, featured a scene from the final battle of the Haitian Revolution, also called the Haitian War of Independence. Haiti’s team wore the now-banned designs during international friendlies with Peru and New Zealand last week.
According to Saeta, FIFA rejected the final design in its approval process, saying that “certain visual elements could be interpreted differently under its equipment regulations.”
“Working in close collaboration with the Haitian Football Federation, our objective throughout the process was to create a jersey that celebrated the pride, resilience and spirit of the Haitian people,” Saeta said in a statement. “Several concepts were developed and refined over a number of months and submitted through Fifa’s standard approval process. The final design presented by Saeta was intended as a tribute to the men and women who contribute every day to Haiti’s future and was not intended as a political statement.”
FIFA ultimately requested that the sportswear company modify the design, though Saeta said its “interpretation differed from our intention.”
“We remain proud to have contributed, alongside the Haitian Football Federation, to this historic moment for Haitian football and wish the team every success at the Fifa World Cup,” the statement said.
The decision from FIFA comes months after Haiti’s Winter Olympics uniforms were flagged for breaching the International Olympic Committee’s rules against demonstrating political, religious, or racial propaganda. The original designs featured one of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution, Toussaint Louverture, riding a horse. The former slave who became a general is considered one of the founding fathers of Haiti, which won its independence from France in 1804.
The designer of the Winter Olympics uniforms, Stella Jean, removed Louverture from the final product, but kept the horse as a reference to the revolutionary.
Commenting Thursday on the World Cup jersey change, Jean told the Associated Press, “Either way, Haiti has to be setting a record: Two rebukes from the highest international sports authorities in just a few months.”