Head of Iran Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, said Team Melli’s official kit for the 2018 Russia World Cup will be unveiled at a friendly match with Uzbekistan on May 18 at Azadi Stadium in Tehran.
After a photo - attributed to the national team’s kit - went viral in the social media, it raised strong criticisms and complaints by the public over lack of proper identity in its design.
But Taj has claimed the photo does not belong to the official kit since it has not been revealed.
“Team Melli’s kit is a production of a high-quality brand (Adidas),” Taj said. “Photos in the social media are not of the official kit. Not a single photo from the kit has been released,” IRNA reported on its Persian website.
The kit used for the 2014 World Cup had a design of the Persian cheetah and FIFA agreed that Iran can use the kit as the official jersey to support the big cat which is on the verge of extinction. Team Melli players continued to wear the kit until this year’s World Cup qualifiers.
Cheetah Gone
However, the design of this year’s jersey will have no sign of the endangered animal.
Taj was the first to announce the news on a TV show two weeks ago; later on, Hedayat Mombeini, director of marketing committee of the IFF, confirmed the report and linked the removal to problems that occurred in the ventilation system of the kit produced by Adidas.
Displaying the picture of cheetahs in the 2014 world event was proposed to draw global attention to the status of the rare cat and raise awareness about conservation of the species.
With only an estimated 50 Asiatic cheetahs left, the big cat is teetering on the verge of extinction. It is ranked as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of the Nature.
Iran is home to the only remaining population which, despite protective measures, is still threatened by multiple factors, including destruction of habitats, road construction, lack of prey and the presence of cattle and sheepdogs, among others.
It should be recalled that the federation acted too slowly in taking an official sponsor for the kit.
Qualified teams for the finals of the World Cup in Russia had made their contracts with big names in the market including Adidas, Nike, PUMA and New Balance among others.
Adidas sponsors the highest number of teams with 12 and arguably the best with the current title holder Germany. Argentina and Spain players are also wearing the Adidas logo on their chest. The lineup is rounded out with Belgium, Colombia, Egypt, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, and Sweden.
But IFF has said that the contract between Adidas and Iran federation is not set based on sponsorship facts and it is only retail with special offer. The financial details of the contract have not been released by the federation nor by the German company.
In a nutshell, Iran not only lost the chance of having a sponsor at the World Cup but had to pay for Team Melli kit.
Losing Potential
Iran is grouped with 2010 World Cup winner Spain, European Cup winner Portugal and African giant Morocco.
For sure, the games against these teams will attract a great number of fans to the stadiums and it will be a good marketing opportunity for the companies that will try not to miss.
After the host country Russia and Brazil, Iran was the first country to qualify for the cup as the table-topper of its group not losing a single match on the way up to the tournament.
Beyond all the existing potentials, the chance of forging a sponsorship contract with the mega names in the industry of sportswear productions was missed by the federation.
