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Economics Minister Robert Habeck on March 19th in Berlin

Photo: Hannes P Albert / dpa

Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck has criticized the future change of supplier at the German Football Association from long-time partner Adidas to Nike. »I can hardly imagine the German jersey without the three stripes. For me, Adidas and black-red-gold always belonged together. A piece of German identity. I would have liked a little more local patriotism," Habeck told the dpa.

The CSU Bundestag member Dorothee Bär, like Adidas in Franconia, described the decision on X, formerly Twitter, as a “merciless wrong decision”.

The move was unexpected for Antonio Di Salvo, the coach of the German U21 national team. “It was very surprising,” he said on Thursday evening, the day before the European Championship qualifier in Chemnitz against Kosovo. "I did not expect that. It's not my place to go into it too much." He associates a lot with Adidas because that's the history.

Adidas was only informed on Thursday

Adidas apparently didn't expect the change either. "We were informed by the DFB today that the association will have a new supplier from 2027," said a spokesman for the company in response to a dpa request.

Many fans criticized the association on social media. The DFB responded to the criticism on X and wrote: “We understand every emotionality. It is also a drastic event for us as an association when it becomes clear that a partnership that was and is characterized by many special moments is coming to an end after more than 70 years. That doesn’t leave us indifferent.”

On Thursday, the DFB announced that the US sporting goods manufacturer Nike will equip all German national teams from 2027. This marks the end of a partnership with Adidas that has lasted more than 70 years. Adidas was the supplier for all four World Cup titles and all three European Championship titles for men as well as for the two World Cup titles and the eight European Championship trophies for women.

The collaboration with Nike is initially scheduled to run until 2034. The decision against Adidas and in favor of Nike was obviously also driven by economic considerations and comes as a surprise.

At the European Championships this summer, the DFB team will even be staying at the Adidas home ground in Herzogenaurach. The pink away jersey for the tournament from June 14th to July 14th recently caused discussions and got off to a strong start in sales.

Editor's note: In an earlier version it was said at one point that Habeck had criticized the DFB's move from Nike to Adidas. It's true the other way around: The DFB is switching from Adidas to Nike. We have corrected the spot.

kjo/dpa