The Moroccan Ministry of Culture sent an official legal warning to the sportswear company, "Adidas", demanding that it withdraw its new line-up of the Algerian football team shirts.

 

The warning says that the design of these shirts is directly inspired by a traditional Moroccan mosaic design known as zellige.

 

Adidas had published marketing images of the T-shirts and said that they were inspired by decorative inscriptions of the Mechouar Palace in the Algerian city of Tlemcen.

 

However, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Moroccan lawyer Mourad El-Agouti accused Adidas of stealing "Moroccan cultural heritage".

 

The relationship between Morocco and Algeria has long been strained.

 

On September 23, Adidas published pictures on Twitter of the new Algerian national team shirts for the 2022-2023 season, saying that their design was "inspired by culture and history."

 

In a letter he sent to Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted, El-Agouti demanded that the shirts be withdrawn within two weeks.

 

In a copy of the letter seen by AFP, the lawyer condemned "the cultural appropriation and the attempt to rob one of the forms of Moroccan cultural heritage."

 

The lawyer added in the letter that "the Moroccan Ministry of Culture reserves the right to use all possible judicial means before German and international courts."

 

He also threatened to file a lawsuit "before organizations concerned with the protection of heritage and copyright," including the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

 

The BBC has contacted Adidas for comment.

 

Algeria and Morocco have a common border of about 2,000 km. The common border has been a source of tension since independence from French colonial rule.

 

In 1963, the two sides fought a conflict, known as the "Sand War", over Morocco's claim to territory in Algeria.

 

Later, Algeria supported the Polisario Front's campaign for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco, which led to the Western Sahara War (1975-1991).

 

Then the border was closed in 1994 for security reasons after Islamist militants bombed a hotel in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.

 

In 2021, Algeria severed diplomatic relations with its neighbour, accusing Morocco of "hostile acts". Morocco described the move as "totally unjustified".

 

 

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