The World Cup jersey banned by FIFA for being too political

The people who tell you sport and politics shouldn’t mix usually mean that the politics they don’t like shouldn’t be propagated through the worldwide unifying force that is sport.

Whether it’s Rayo or Rangers, these two key pillars of modern society are fundamentally intertwined; the fanbases come together at the games which act as the channels through which political messages can be formulated and pulsated across the planet in unison.

But things have gotten too much for FIFA and Gianni Infantino. In a World Cup hosted by US, a country currently linking fingers with an apartheid state occupying territory in both Palestine and Lebanon in an effort to drop tonnes of explosives on Iran, the blue jersey of Haiti is too much to bear.

A small image in the corner of the Haiti jerseys is the bone of contention for FIFA. Back in 1803, revolutionary leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the nation’s first emperor, ripped the white band off of a French flag to create a new flag for Haiti, labelling it “the world’s first free Black republic”. The design on the right hip of the shirt depicts this moment, and FIFA have ordered kit manufacturer Saeta to remove it.

But that’s not even the reason that Haitian fans won’t be seen in the shirt: citizens are banned from receiving the type of visitor visa that US authorities recommend for fans who want to watch the World Cup.

The company said that “during the review process, Fifa determined that certain visual elements could be interpreted differently under its equipment regulations and ultimately requested modifications to the design.”

They added that “our objective throughout the process was to create a jersey that celebrated the pride, resilience and spirit of the Haitian people,” adding that “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.”

The original versions of the shirts are sold out on Saeta’s official website and FIFA only offers a hat and a scarf on their online merchandise page for the Haitian national team.

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