The Russian national team has a new technical sponsor

Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, major tournaments began to block participation by Russian athletes, as well as brands distancing themselves from sporting and sponsorship contracts to club and national teams. adidas, as the sponsor of the national football team since 2008, ended the partnership with immediate effect, with the team excluded by FIFA and UEFA from any international competition including the play-offs for the World Cup in Qatar 2022 and the qualifiers and Euro 2024. Without having played any official matches in the last year, the team still had to find a new jersey sponsor and it was announced a few hours ago that it will be Jögel, a Russian brand specialising in a large number of sports and products and recently announced as the supplier of the balls for Russia's top basketball league.

The bond between Russia and adidas was not only sporting but also cultural, ever since the years of the USSR when the three stripes were present on the uniforms of the Soviet teams. The new contract with Jögel will last until 2026, while in the meantime, Russian Football Union (RFU) general secretary Maxim Mitrofanov continues negotiations to return to competition in international tournaments. FIFA is not preventing Russia from playing in the next World Cup qualifiers, unless it leaves UEFA to join the Asian Football Confederation. Mitrofanov himself commented that the choice of Jögel allows Russia to have a greater supply of sports equipment (especially for the younger generation), blocked by the big European and American brands, including Nike for example. The concept was also reiterated these days in St. Petersburg, during the 26th international economic forum entitled 'Sovereign development as the basis of a just world: joining forces for future generations'. 

Jögel's choice thus appears more as an economic necessity, like most wartime decisions. The autarky chosen by Russia as an economic system has affected other sectors of the country, which has seen a drastic decrease in the entry of foreign capital, choosing to focus on local companies and chains to reduce economic vulnerability. Remaining with the national football team, even another of the main sponsors such as Volkswagen in recent months had been replaced by Lada, one of the most popular Russian car companies in the country. Autarky, especially in the last two years, has reduced Russia's debt by USD 200 billion, meanwhile sports brands are still not opening the door to a return to Russia until geopolitical interests are restored.