Greek National Football Jersey Design Criticised

The Hellenic Football Association (EPO) recently unveiled the new national team jersey designed by the giant sports brand, Nike. However, the design of the new kit has raised some eyebrows.

The strongest critics of the new jersey are the political party MeRA25, who have called on the EPO to withdraw the new jersey and replace it with a new design. Specifically, the party has implied that the design shares a likeness with the Nazi swastika.

Other critics of the new jersey have made more light-hearted comparisons. For example, commentators have likened the design to the Finnish flag.

Αυτή η μπλούζα δεν αποτελεί «μια ακόμη επικίνδυνη, χυδαία και απαράδεκτη πράξη εκφασισμού»; @edmantweet #Μπαλτακος #ΕΠΟ #εθνικη_ελλαδας https://t.co/hmN8MTLM0w

— ΜέΡΑ25 (@mera25_gr) March 22, 2023

New national football jerseys

On Monday, the Greek national football team revealed the new jersey it would wear during the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers. A promotional video featured children playing football wearing the new jerseys, interspersed with video shots of a variety of Greek landscapes.

Over the past week, the away third kits, and most recently the home kits for the Greek national football team, have been gradually made public. Each of the designs features blue and white color schemes, reminiscent of the Greek flag.

The first two designs that were revealed are exceptionally plain, featuring a minimalist design. The most recent new design, which has caused a controversy of sorts, is the more creative of the three, and features blue graphics over a white background.

Επίσημη Εμφάνιση των Εθνικών Ομάδων 🔵⚪️
Όλη η Ελλάδα μια Φανέλα. 🇬🇷 Η Ελληνική Ποδοσφαιρική Ομοσπονδία και η 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 παρουσιάζουν τη νέα επίσημη εμφάνιση των Εθνικών Ομάδων

𝐄𝐏𝐎 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐎𝐍 🛒 https://t.co/m7kcRXmEye #nikefootball #newjersey pic.twitter.com/Znow2ixrOD

— Ethniki Omada (@EthnikiOmada) March 20, 2023

 MeRA25 likens new Greek football jersey to the swastika

MeRA25, the political party of former Greek finance minister, author, and academic Yannis Varoufakis, issued a statement calling on the EPO to replace the recently unveiled Greek football jersey with a new design.

According to the party’s statement, the football jersey represents “yet another dangerous, vulgar, and unacceptable act of extremism”.

“The government brings extreme anti-democratic, dangerous amendments supposedly to exclude the presence of Nazis in the Parliament, and on the other hand it does everything to normalize them in society,” added the left-wing party’s press representative, Erik Miltiadis Edman.

Comparison to the flag of Finland

Finland pic.twitter.com/pV1ftxM64D

— Flag Facts (@FlagFacts) March 16, 2023

 

The outrage of politicians belonging to MeRA25 over the new design has not been universally shared, but some less serious criticisms have been made of the football jersey, poking fun at its design.

“Finland’s new look is awesome! What; aren’t they from Finland?”, said Kostas Karapapas, the communications manager at PAE Olympiacos in an Instagram post.

Other users from the general public also took to social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram to share their opinions. Many of them made fun of the design.

It remains to be seen whether criticism of the new football jersey will elicit a response from the EPO.