Appearance of Algerian Adidas Apparel Arouses Appropriation Accusation From Atlantic Archrival

German sportswear heavyweight Adidas has designed a new jersey for Algeria’s national football team, and Morocco is crying foul. The shirts feature a blue, teal, and yellow geometric pattern called a “zellige” that is common in traditional Moroccan ceramic mosaics. Mourad Elajouti, a lawyer for Morocco’s Culture Ministry, sent a letter sent last Thursday to Adidas chief executive Kasper Rorsted, accusing the company of appropriating Morocco’s cultural heritage and demanding that the company redesign the shirts within two weeks. The use of the zellige on Algeria’s jerseys was “an attempt to steal a form of Moroccan cultural heritage and use it outside its context,” Elajouti charged. Adidas says it took inspiration for the design from El Mechouar Palace, the former official residence of the Zayyanid dynasty in the city of Tlemcen, Algeria. Algeria and Morocco have been bitter rivals since they threw off French colonial rule and achieved independence – Morocco in 1956 and Algeria in 1962. They fought a war over disputed territory in 1963, and Algeria has backed the Polisario Front’s campaign to rule Western Sahara, a territory that Morocco claims for itself.