The Moroccan government has asked sports apparel brand Adidas to change the design of the new jersey of the Algerian football team.
The new jersey that Adidas has designed has blue, yellow and teal geometric patterns. As per Adidas, the design is inspired by Mechouar Palace in Algeria. However, the culture ministry of Morocco has accused the brand of 'appropriating a Morrocan pattern called Zellige in the jersey'.
Lawyer Mourad Elajouti who has sent a legal warning to Adidas on behalf of the ministry said that the pattern, Zellige is a geometric blue, teal and yellow design which is common in Morrocan Mosaics.
In his letter to Adidas, Elajouti wrote that the new design was 'cultural appropriation and an attempt to steal a form of Moroccan cultural heritage and use it outside of context'. The ministry has demanded Adidas to either change the design within 2 weeks or to identify the Zellige art of Morocco as an inspiration.
The 2 nations share a history of political tensions, including the Sand war of 1963 which was over a month-long war that happened due to border issues between the 2 neighboring nations.