By Adidas has blocked people from customising the German national football team’s shirt as it attempts to deal with a furore over the resemblance of the number 44 to the symbol for the SS.
Customers on the German company’s online shop can no longer pick their own shirt number, or put a name on the back, the company confirmed as it tries to control a growing PR disaster.
It comes after social media users drew attention to the similarity between the newly stylised number 44 shirt and the infamous lightning-bolt insignia of Hitler’s SS troops.
Users on Twitter also posted images of customised shirts on the website with the names of leading Nazis such as Goebbels and Göring on the back.
On Monday, the company confirmed that it had banned purchases of shirts with a 44 on the back.
It also confirmed that it would not deliver any shirts that had been ordered with that number.
‘Diversity and inclusion’
“People from around 100 nations work at Adidas. Our company stands for the promotion of diversity and inclusion, and as a company we actively campaign against xenophobia, anti-Semitism, violence, and hatred in all forms,” the company said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the German Football Federation (DFB) confirmed that it was working on changing the style of the number four ahead of the European Championships this summer.
“None of the parties involved noticed any resemblance to the symbolism of National Socialism in the creation process of the jersey design. But the public discussion about visual proximity was enough for us to initiate a change process,” the DFB told Bild newspaper.
None of the German squad for the European Championships will wear the number 44, with the players bearing the numbers one through to 23.
