UEFA ban Ajax from wearing Bob Marley-inspired away kit

Daniel Brown

The Dutch champions were forced to wear a modified version of the shirt at the weekend

UEFA have banned Dutch giants Ajax from wearing their Bob Marley-inspired kit in the Champions League.

The shirt has been extremely popular amongst both Ajax supporters and football shirt enthusiasts alike, selling out within days of its release in August.

Ajax Commercial director, Menno Geelen, recently revealed that it had sold four times more than any other shirt.

He said: “We had already responded to the interest by purchasing much more than ever,” Geelen said. “A record number of shirts were sold in one day.

“This shirt is sold at least four times more than any other Ajax shirt. It’s unique.”

However, the original design is claimed to possess imagery that goes against the European football governing body’s rules and has therefore seen UEFA ban Ajax from wearing the kit in the Champions League.

Erik ten Hag’s side debuted the shirt for the first time on Saturday’s 2-0 Eredivisie victory over PEC Zwolle.

Despite this, they had to make a slight alteration to the original design and briefly explained their decision to do so.

Speaking on the decision, the Amsterdam outfit, via website Ajax Life, stated: “The European Football Association [UEFA] sees it as a different expression than the club logo, logo clothing sponsor or sleeve sponsor. Other expressions are not allowed.”

The original design incorporated three birds stitched on the back of the shirt – in the classic reggae colours of red, yellow and green – yet, it was quickly spotted during Saturday’s away victory that the birds had actually been removed from the jersey worn by the players.

It is believed that, in order to comply with the rules set out by UEFA, the three birds had to be removed.

The 35-time Dutch champions are planning to wear the popular kit in European competitions this season, whether that be the Champions League or, hopefully not in Ajax’s case, the Europa League.

They begin their Champions League campaign on Wednesday evening as they travel to Portugal to face Sporting Lisbon at 8pm.

Ajax will be hoping that they can bring a positive result back to Amsterdam and take a step forward in progressing from their group, which also contains Besiktas and Borussia Dortmund.

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