Adidas, Nike, and Puma will not produce new kits for both Asia and Africa Cup of Nations

For football, the month of January 2024 will be particularly hectic, both for club teams managing their energies between national cups (Coppa Italia, Supercoppa spagnola, FA Cup, and the Italian Supercoppa, which has introduced a new "final four" format starting this season) and for some national teams venturing into the Asia Cup and Africa Cup. The former will take place in Qatar, although initially scheduled for China. When the tournament was awarded to China, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic prevented its organization in the country. Instead, the Africa Cup will be hosted by Ivory Coast, a competition originally planned for the summer of 2023 but postponed to 2024 due to logistical and meteorological issues. In short, the conditions for a successful outcome of both competitions are not the most optimistic, and the situation could take an even sadder turn.

Adidas, Nike, and Puma will not provide specific kits for the national teams participating in the Africa Cup and Asia Cup. Among the African teams forced to take the field with uniforms created by their respective suppliers in 2022 are Algeria, Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and Senegal. In the competition held in Ivory Coast, Puma will have 6 national teams without a new kit, while Nike and Adidas will have only 2 each. As for the Asia Cup, Bahrain, Australia, China, Hong Kong national football team, Qatar, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates national football team will have to settle for their old playing kits. Guinea and Iraq, having recently signed contracts with Puma and Adidas, will play with new Teamwear kits. This means that the race for the most interesting kit in these competitions will be more straightforward for a national team like Tunisia sponsored by Kappa.

Regarding the uniforms of Japan and Algeria, these will be released in June 2024, a 5 months after the conclusion of the two major intercontinental tournaments. This news is another demonstration of how kit production often fails to keep up with the fast-paced rhythms of sports events, which, in turn, frequently encounter significant organizational obstacles.