BERLIN (dpa-AFX) - The announced change of supplier at the German Football Association (DFB) from Adidas to Nike has not left German top politicians cold. After Economics Minister and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens), Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has also criticized the decision. "Adidas should no longer be the national soccer jersey? A US company instead? I think it's a bad decision, where commerce destroys a tradition and a piece of home," wrote the SPD politician on X, the former Twitter. CSU member of the Bundestag Dorothee Bär also described it on X as "a mercilessly wrong decision".

Habeck had declared: "I can hardly imagine the German jersey without the three stripes. Adidas and black, red and gold have always belonged together for me. A piece of German identity. I would have liked a bit more local patriotism."

On Thursday, the DFB announced that the US sporting goods manufacturer Nike will equip all German national teams from 2027. This marks the end of a more than 70-year partnership with Adidas. Adidas was the kit supplier for all four World Cup titles and all three European Championship titles for the men, as well as the two World Cup titles and eight European Championship trophies for the women. The collaboration with Nike will initially run until 2034.

According to the Handelsblatt newspaper, the US sporting goods manufacturer Nike is set to pay more than 100 million euros per year for the new supplier contract with the German Football Association from 2027. This is said to have emerged from industry circles, as the newspaper reports. This would mean that Nike would far exceed the current contract sum of the current outfitter Adidas. Long-standing partner Adidas, which will continue to kit out all national teams until the end of 2026, is set to transfer around 50 million euros a year to the DFB. The association announced the new deal on Thursday, but did not disclose the contract sum. It merely stated that Nike had made "by far the best economic offer"./mkl/DP/jha