Adidas to redesign font for German national football team shirt after it was ... trends now
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The German football team has announced that the design for the number four on its new kit will be redesigned amid claims it bears a striking resemblance to the logo used by the Nazi SS units.
Germany's official supplier Adidas had initially banned German football fans from customising the jerseys with 44 on the back but the sports giant will ditch the number in its current format amid a backlash.
The personalised kit sparked outrage amid claims the 44 looked like the infamous SS 'lightning bolts' symbol, with historian Michael König describing its design as 'very questionable'.
SS units were the most responsible for crimes against humanity committed by the Nazis during World War Two.
The new kit, launched before Germany host the European Championship in June and July, debuted during their 2-0 friendly win over France last month.
'The DFB checks the numbers 0-9 and then submits the numbers 1-26 to UEFA for review. None of the parties involved saw any proximity to Nazi symbolism in the creation process of the jersey design,' the German Football Association (DFB) said in a statement.
The German football team has announced that the design for the number four on its new kit will be redesigned amid concerns that the number '44' resembled the symbol used by Nazi 'SS' units
An SS logo is seen on the clothes of a German soldier in approximately 1935 (File image)
'Nevertheless, we take the comments very seriously and do not want to provide a platform for discussions... we will develop an alternative design for the number 4 and coordinate it with UEFA.'
Adidas had earlier said that they would remove the number 44 from their range of customisation options.
'We will block the number 44 as quickly as possible,' Adidas spokesman Oliver Bruggen
