As of: March 24, 2024, 4:57 p.m
By: Stefan Schmid
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Split
First came the emotions, then the first numbers trickled out.
The change of supplier at the DFB caused quite a stir.
Rettig and Neuendorf defend themselves.
Frankfurt/Main - First the excitement about the DFB's new pink away jersey, then the answer via marketing video and finally the news of the DFB being kicked out.
Turbulent days for sporting goods manufacturer Adidas, which received unexpected support after the DFB announced the change of supplier.
Without being asked, politicians across all party lines spoke out about a lack of patriotism and the destruction of their homeland by the DFB.
Those in charge don't want to let it stand like that.
DFB managing director Rettig dispels location “fairy tales”.
Little by little, those responsible at the DFB are speaking out about the upcoming change of supplier in 2027.
So does Managing Director Sport Andreas Rettig.
In the
Sport1 one-two
he explained the reasons for the move to Nike and the time frame.
He described the emotional criticism from political dignitaries as “self-marketing”, but admitted that the decision to turn his back on Adidas was difficult “emotionally speaking”.
Rettig was particularly displeased with the criticism from politicians “because it was about insinuating that we had betrayed the fatherland.”
His statement on the “nonsense of the location commitment” can also be seen in this context.
Rettig: “Sports shoes are no longer produced in Germany (note: by Adidas).
They have to stop this fairy tale too.” A look at the DFB fan shop reveals that this doesn’t just affect the shoes.
The jersey contains the information “Country of origin: Vietnam” – although Adidas announced in 2015 that it wanted to move production to Germany as a “long-term goal”.
With his criticism of the location, Rettig is probably alluding primarily to Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens).
He “wished for a bit more local patriotism” instead of choosing US manufacturer Nike.
Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) also expressed criticism, which forced Rettig to launch his first broadside against the politicians.
However, opposition politicians also had their part to play.
The decision was either described as “unpatriotic” (Friedrich Merz – CDU) or as “wrong, a shame and also incomprehensible” (Markus Söder – CSU).
Rettig defends schedule around new supplier change
Despite all the emotional criticism, legitimate questions were also raised about the announcement period of the move to Nike.
Shortly after the release of the new jersey, Adidas presented a sophisticated advertising campaign that was very well received.
The new Adidas jerseys were on the market for seven days, then the DFB announced in a press release: “Nike will be the new DFB supplier from 2027.”
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Rettig now explained the timing of the “transparent and non-discriminatory” tender.
All interested parties, over ten in number, were presented with the same schedule.
They had until March 20th to “present their content ideas”.
The tender documents were sent to the potential supplier by the DFB on January 22nd.
Rettig also explained why the whole procedure had to happen so early - the contract begins in 2027. On the one hand, a change of supplier requires "an incredibly long lead time" and the applicants also insisted on being informed of the decision as soon as possible.
The reason for this is, among other things, upcoming tenders in Brazil and France.
DFB managing director Andreas Rettig (here at the introduction of Nia Künzer as sports director) explains the events surrounding the change of supplier and makes it clear to politicians.
© IMAGO / Hartenfelser
DFB President Neuendorf irritated by criticism of politicians “without knowledge of the facts”
The mere fact that there was only one day between the last deadline and the DFB's decision announcement allows us to draw some conclusions about the probably unrivaled Nike offer.
In fact, the US manufacturer's offer is said to be significantly higher than that of its competitors.
However, economic reasons hardly played a role in politicians' reactions.
An absurdity for DFB President Bernd Neuendorf.
Before the friendly against France (2-0), Neuendorf criticized Economics Minister Habeck's statements (“especially from him”) as “very strange”.
In general, this “already stunned him to some extent”, as was expressed “without knowledge of the facts, without knowledge of the background”.
The fairy tale of the Adidas jersey for the 1954 World Cup
Ignorance also spreads when reference is made to Adidas' long history as a German supplier.
We talk about a 75-year history often enough.
In fact, the company from Herzogenaurach has only been supplying the DFB since 1971, and the jerseys have only come from Adidas since 1980.
During both the 1954 World Cup title (Leuze) and the 1974 success (Erima), Germany did not wear a bib produced by Adidas.
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