New sponsor but same old kits for Blue Tigers

CHENNAI : It has not even been a week since Sunil Chhetri and his teammates lined up in front of a crowd in New Delhi to present the shirts that they would wear at the upcoming Asian Cup. The most visible change, apart from the adoption of a more familiar shade of blue and the presence of orange stripes along the sleeves, was the logo in the middle. 

The familiar swoosh of Nike was gone, replaced by the logo of upstarts Six5Six. The Gurgaon-based brand, founded in 2018, would ‘be outfitting the Indian national teams across all age groups and genders, as per the agreement’, according to a statement released that day. The deal would reportedly net the AIFF a crore and a half each year.

It hasn’t taken too long for that partnership to run into rough waters. A couple of days after the launch, the Indian team landed in Abu Dhabi as part of their preparations for the Asian Cup. The pictures that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) put up on their website, of the team being welcomed at the airport, had a minor glitch. The red t-shirts the players were sporting still had the Nike swoosh. The same held true when they turned out for their practice sessions in Abu Dhabi the following days with everyone donning Nike training kits. 

An AIFF official confirmed the incident(s). “Six5Six are yet to supply us with all the training kits. A few of the items have arrived, but not everything.” Officials, though, were unwilling to comment on when they expected this situation to be resolved. While being forced to wear the logo of your erstwhile sponsor for a few days in training is undoubtedly embarrassing for any team, things could get worse for the Blue Tigers. They face Oman in a friendly in a couple of days.

While not as high profile as the national team, the AIFF’s developmental team, the Indian Arrows, also took to the field clad in Nike jerseys for their I-League game against Gokulam Kerala FC, a couple of days after the new shirts were presented.Meanwhile, Six5Six have already started selling the new jerseys on their website. Maybe Chhetri & Co should consider placing in some orders.

dress code
AIFF had announced a deal with Six5Six on December 19.
The new brand will pay AIFF a reported `1.5 crore an year. 
Six5Six are currently kitting ISL teams FC Pune City and Kerala Blasters, as well as the Ultimate Table Tennis league.
They replaced Nike whose logo had adorned the Indian football team’s jersey since 2006.