DPA - Iran on Sunday introduced the new
jerseys which the country's national football team will wear during the
World Cup in Germany.
The new white-coloured home- and red-coloured away-jerseys provided by the
sports company Puma were exhibited by male models in a fashion show with
loud techno music at the Simorq hotel in Tehran.
Although techno music is forbidden in Islamic Iran and branded by some
officials as 'sound pollution', the ban was apparently lifted for the jersey
introduction to which more than a hundred reporters from the local and
foreign media were invited.
A spokesman of the Puma branch in Tehran said that the new jerseys would be
on sale by the end of next week in sports shops throughout Iran at a price
of 27 euro. All Iranian fans coming to Germany were expected to wear the new
jerseys, the spokesman added.
In line with the green-white-red Iranian flag, the white jerseys have green
and red and the red jerseys green and white stripes.
Puma and a the Iranian Football Federation (IFF) last August signed a
two-year-contract starting from April 2006 in terms of which all Iranian
national football teams will use Puma sportswear. Both sides expressed hope
that the sponsorship would extend beyond 2008.
Iran's main sponsor is Iranoil, a company affiliated to the oil ministry.
The former contract with national team skipper and ex-Bayern Munich striker
Ali Daei, who provided the national teams' jerseys, has apparently been
terminated.
Puma could not continue its cooperation with Iran after the 1998 World Cup
due to legal disputes and non-existence of a copyright law in Iran.
But as the copyright law does still not exist, Puma representatives in Iran
have voiced their concerns that it is likely that their articles would again
be copied and sold at prices ranging between 5 and 15 Euro.
This could have a negative impact on Puma's attempts to gain a foothold in
the Iranian market.
The sponsorship agreement also includes the women's national team, which,
however, requires a special outfit.
Women in Iran are obliged by law to respect the Islamic dressing code which
includes scarf and gown to cover hair and body contours in public and this
would also hold for the women's national team.
It is unclear whether Puma can cover the Islamic criteria for the women's
national team.
