Arunava about Football A look at football & the world through my eyes!
Related Articles
National senior and Under-21 teams from eight European national associations will proudly wear new kits during the next two years – thanks to UEFA’s ambitious Kit Assistance Scheme, run in cooperation with Italian kit suppliers Erreà Sport.
The Palazzo Marchi in the Italian city of Parma was the impressive setting for a ceremony to unveil the new kits and training wear created by Erreà Sport for the national teams of Andorra, Belarus, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta and San Marino.
UEFA’s Kit Assistance Scheme celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. It was decided to mark the occasion by holding a joint kit launch for all of the national associations taking part in the project, rather than unveiling the kits separately in the associations’ respective home countries.
The festive ceremony was attended by national association officials and national football legends from the associations taking part in the scheme. The honour of unveiling the new match kits was entrusted to former prominent football players in the various countries, who all expressed their delight and honour at being part of the experience. They were also the first people to receive the shirts as a souvenir.
What is the UEFA Kit Assistance Scheme?
UEFA is providing the kits and training wear for the associations’ senior and under-21 teams free of charge.
The Kit Assistance Scheme has a special relevance, given that UEFA continues to fervently support national team football and its further development.
The scheme enables those associations which lack sufficient bargaining power with kit suppliers to play in top-calibre clothing, featuring bespoke designs linked to each nation’s own rich history, culture and traditions that are certain to excite players and fans alike.
The scheme is purely about assistance rather than sponsorship and is tailored for associations which need vital help in this area.
UEFA General Secretary Theodore Theodoridis said, “National team football is a crucial part of the European football landscape. It is an important source of national identity, creating a bond of unity throughout a country.
“The national team shirt plays an equally significant role. Players consider it an honour and a privilege to wear the shirt, and fans are proud to identify with their heroes and share in their successes by donning the shirt themselves at the team’s matches.”
“We are pleased that the UEFA Kit Assistance Scheme is giving vital help to our national associations, by providing them with unique and distinctive national team shirts that reinforce this essential feeling of identity and pride.”
Design consultation
Erreà Sport and the eight national associations joined forces in a comprehensive consultation process last September, which focused on the design of the new national team wear for the 2022–24 period.
Both sides were eager to create customised articles that were not only aesthetically appealing and performing, but also the bearers of a sporting and cultural message.
For the first time in the scheme’s impressive history, the whole travel range were completely customised in addition to the match kits.
“Erreà Sport and the federations, in addition to the strong sense of identity, were inspired by fundamental concepts such as history, tradition, courage, passion, folklore and beauty,” the company said.
High-impact material
The material produced for the national team shirts is not only high-performance and impactful, but also certified Standard 100 by OEKO-TEX, an attestation that sets extremely strict limits on substances harmful to health.
In addition, Erreà Sport is the only major manufacturer producing goods in its own EU factories. This means that there is no third-party ordering and every stage of production, from thread selection to finished garment, is monitored and controlled from the company headquarters.
UEFA and Erreà Sport: a committed partnership
In December 2020, UEFA and Erreà Sport launched a partnership for the 2022–26 period.
The family-owned company, founded in 1988 and based in Parma province in the north-eastern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, is one of the world’s most innovative teamwear manufacturers with a major worldwide portfolio of clients representing a wide variety of sporting disciplines.
Erreà Sport was identified by UEFA ahead of the partnership as fulfilling essential criteria such as price, quality, range, kit personalisation, logistics and merchandising opportunities.
Erreà Sport Chairman Angelo Gandolfi said, “The importance of this collaboration represents an extremely prestigious goal for our company and the ideal crowning achievement of many years of work. A very significant professional challenge in which we have put a lot of creativity and energy.”
“We brought more than 30 years of experience to the realisation of the kits, creating a unique and immediately distinctive look for each country involved.”
