Iran introduces new World Cup jerseys

DPA - Iran on Sunday introduced the new jerseys which the country's national football team will wear during the World Cup in Germany.

The new white-coloured home- and red-coloured away-jerseys provided by the sports company Puma were exhibited by male models in a fashion show with loud techno music at the Simorq hotel in Tehran.

Although techno music is forbidden in Islamic Iran and branded by some officials as 'sound pollution', the ban was apparently lifted for the jersey introduction to which more than a hundred reporters from the local and foreign media were invited.

A spokesman of the Puma branch in Tehran said that the new jerseys would be on sale by the end of next week in sports shops throughout Iran at a price of 27 euro. All Iranian fans coming to Germany were expected to wear the new jerseys, the spokesman added.

In line with the green-white-red Iranian flag, the white jerseys have green and red and the red jerseys green and white stripes.

Puma and a the Iranian Football Federation (IFF) last August signed a two-year-contract starting from April 2006 in terms of which all Iranian national football teams will use Puma sportswear. Both sides expressed hope that the sponsorship would extend beyond 2008.

Iran's main sponsor is Iranoil, a company affiliated to the oil ministry.

The former contract with national team skipper and ex-Bayern Munich striker Ali Daei, who provided the national teams' jerseys, has apparently been terminated.

Puma could not continue its cooperation with Iran after the 1998 World Cup due to legal disputes and non-existence of a copyright law in Iran.

But as the copyright law does still not exist, Puma representatives in Iran have voiced their concerns that it is likely that their articles would again be copied and sold at prices ranging between 5 and 15 Euro.

This could have a negative impact on Puma's attempts to gain a foothold in the Iranian market.

The sponsorship agreement also includes the women's national team, which, however, requires a special outfit.

Women in Iran are obliged by law to respect the Islamic dressing code which includes scarf and gown to cover hair and body contours in public and this would also hold for the women's national team.

It is unclear whether Puma can cover the Islamic criteria for the women's national team.