Nike has taken over as sponsor of the French national team, ending France’s 38-year association with adidas, but French coach Laurent Blanc doesn’t like theBleus’ new uniform, saying it looks, well, too blue.
“I find that the completely blue jersey is beautiful but a bit Italian,” said Blanc at the uniform unveiling in Paris. “We know thatthe French are very attached to the blue-white-red. I made this remark but there’s a clever thing on the sleeve that you can lift up and that’s red inside. Afterwards it’s a question of consistencyand uniformity. It will be up to the players to decide if we lift up the sleeves or not. In any case when we play in blue we’ll have white shorts and red socks so the blue-white-red will bevisible.”
Nike will pay the French federation more than $56 million in a deal that lasts through the 2018 World Cup.