Brazil stops production of red jersey amid outcry

A red jersey for the Seleçao at the 2026 World Cup? The seemingly bizarre idea has been dismissed by the president of the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), who revealed on Tuesday that he had stopped production of this model after a barrage of criticism, particularly regarding the political connotations of this color.

Samir Xaud, who became president of the CBF in May, told the "Sportv" channel on Tuesday that he had "requested the cessation of production" of the red jerseys during an "emergency meeting" with Nike, the Seleçao's equipment supplier since 1996.

In Brazil, a deeply politically polarized country, the color red is generally associated with the Workers' Party of current left-wing president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

And the national team's yellow jersey was massively adopted by supporters of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).

"I was totally against red, but not for political reasons, let me be clear," Samir Xaud said.

"Blue, yellow, green and white are the colors of our flag and these are the colors that must be kept," he continued.

The project for a red jersey, featuring the Air Jordan logo instead of the Nike swoosh, was born under his predecessor, Ednaldo Rodrigues, who was dismissed in May by court order.

It was supposed to be part of the kits available - in addition to the yellow - for the Seleçao at the 2026 World Cup, in Mexico, Canada and the United States.

But Samir Xaud affirmed on Tuesday that Brazil's second jersey will indeed be blue at this World Cup, as it has been for decades.