the Mannschaft leaves Adidas and the whole of Germany is no longer running smoothly – Libération

By announcing its partnership with the American equipment manufacturer Nike from 2027, the German football federation triggered a major controversy across the Rhine. Supporters and politicians are in unison to denounce a choice that shakes the national mythology.

A priori, the change of equipment supplier for a national football team is an anecdotal subject. But in Germany, the transition from Adidas to Nike is becoming a state affair. Announced Thursday March 21, this development will not take place until 2027 but it is already generating a number of comments, up to the top of the State. Because by leaving the brand with the three stripes for the one with the comma, the German selection is abandoning after 70 years of partnership the equipment manufacturer born in Herzogenaurach, in Franconia, in the heart of the country, to give in to the sirens – and the biggest check – d ‘an American brand.

“I can hardly imagine the German jersey without the three stripes,” lamented Economy Minister Robert Habeck, according to a statement released this Friday by his ministry. “Adidas and black-red-yellow [les couleurs du drapeau national] have always been inseparable for me”, as “a part of German identity”, insists the elected environmentalist, also vice-chancellor. Which sums up his thoughts: “I would have appreciated a little more local patriotism.”

His Health counterpart, the Social Democrat Karl Lauterbach, also expressed his dismay with even greater emphasis. “Adidas should no longer be the jersey of the national football team? An American company instead? I think this is a bad decision, where trade destroys a tradition and a part of the homeland…” Nothing less.

Adidas should no longer be the national jersey in football? A US company instead? I think it’s a wrong decision where commerce destroys a tradition and a piece of home… pic.twitter.com/14N4xWCQJa

— Prof. Karl Lauterbach (@Karl_Lauterbach) March 21, 2024

For Markus Söder, the Prime Minister of the Land of Bavaria – homeland of Adidas, there is no need to argue: “The national team plays with three stripes – it was as clear as the ball is round and that ‘a match lasts 90 minutes’. And to recall that “the success story [entre Adidas et la sélection allemande, ndlr] began in 1954 with the unforgettable World Cup victory, which restored confidence in our country. This is why it is harmful, a shame and also incomprehensible that this story ends now,” he wrote on X.

A relationship born under the seal of the “Miracle of Berne”

The relationship between the Mannschaft and Adidas is in fact inseparable from the “Wunder von Bern”, the Miracle of Berne, the providential victory of the German team during the Swiss World Cup in 1954, an event which, in national mythology, definitively turned the tide. page of post-war torments. It is commonly accepted that if the supposedly weaker Germans were able to triumph over the Hungarians of Ferenc Puskas (3-2), they owed it to one man: Adi Dassler, the boss of Adidas, creator of a secret weapon: the shoe with screwed studs. The advantage: their size can change depending on the condition of the ground, and therefore the weather. Short on dry ground, long on muddy grass. That of Berne was like a swamp. A legend was born, now overtaken by economic reality.

To justify this new contract, signed for the period 2027-2034, the German football federation (DFB) ensures that Nike had presented “by far the best economic offer”. To provide context: Adidas’ current contribution is estimated at around 50 million euros per year, Nike would have offered double. The chairman of the board of directors of the German federation, Holger Blask, added on Thursday that he was “impressed” by Nike’s vision, “which also includes a clear commitment to the promotion of amateur and popular sports as well as the development sustainability of women’s football in Germany.

Not enough to convince the supporters of the Mannschaft, who have been flooding social networks with their laments. In unison, the German media are multiplying the analyses. THE Southgerman newspaper notes “the commercial affront” that constitutes the announcement of “this change of supplier so far in advance, and only a week after the launch [par Adidas, ndlr] from the collection of jerseys for the next Euro.

But in the Spiegel, columnist Wolfgang Höbel takes a step back. After recalling that “the Germans have already played under foreign flags: in 1970, the British manufacturer Umbro supplied them with jerseys”, he asserts an obvious truth: whether it is Adidas or Nike, “the jerseys ultimately come neither from Germany nor the United States, but from Vietnam, Indonesia and China. Enough to put into perspective the patriotism called for by certain fans or politicians.