Adidas organized a private gala for the unveiling of the new team uniform, also known as the “kit,” of the Algerian national football team in France’s southern port city of Marseilles, with the event billed as a success “in every way.”
Of course, given the demographic transformation of France, which has the largest Muslim population in all of Europe, Adidas found France to be a fitting place to celebrate the unveiling.
Regarding Marseilles as the location, Valentin Schmitt, territory manager for France for Prod Direct Soccer said, “It was an obvious choice since it is the French city with the largest Algerian community. Marseille is a true footballing city: Launching Algeria’s new jersey there made sense.”
As Le Provence reported, “On Saturday evening, a small part of the Cours Honoré d’Estienne d’Orves took on an oriental feel for one evening. Tents, traditional carpets, decorations, music, food… Algerian culture was magnificently well represented.”
“We are a sporty city that loves football and has a strong Algerian diaspora. It’s an Algerian atmosphere with couscous,” said one attendee.
“We wanted to work locally in every sense of the word. Even in terms of the organization, since it was a Marseille agency, KoolGang, that oversaw the event,” said Gauthier Denglos, activation manager football account at Adidas. “This was done in the same way that we had prepared the campaign, between Algeria and Marseille. We had this common desire to highlight this country, by making the link between culture and sport. All in close collaboration with the Algerian Federation, which allowed us to achieve all this.”
Adidas employed rappers such as Algérino along with YouTuber Mohamed Henni to partake in the event.
However, multiculturalism in Marseilles is not all couscous and football jersey parties. it is also one of France’s poorest cities, which has become ground zero for a raging drug war. Just last week, a 15-year-old was stabbed 50 times and burned alive after being employed by the DZ Algerian Mafia to attack a rival. Just a few days later, in a retaliatory strike, a 14-year-old shot an innocent delivery driver after he refused to drive the 14-year-old to assassinate a “Blacks clan” member.
However, companies like Adidas are not focusing on this violence for obvious reasons. The company has taken to X to advertise its jersey in French.
“This jersey. It’s us. It’s you,” Adidas France wrote.
Many of France’s Algerian migrants root for their home country’s football team over France and other nations. In fact, whether the Algerian team wins or loses, there have been mass riots in France in the past involving Algerian migrants.
It should be noted that the largest number of Algerians in the world is currently in Algeria, where the national football team is also located.
