Haiti have been forced to frantically re-design their World Cup kits after FIFA deemed them too ‘political.’
The Caribbean nation’s shirts had featured soldiers lifting up the nation’s flag to mark them winning independence from France in the Battle of Vertieres in 1803.
But rules prohibit any ‘political, religious, or personal messages or slogans’ on kits and Haiti must therefore stump up a new jersey just three days before they play Scotland.
Haiti insisted to The Athletic that FIFA’s opinion was a ‘misinterpretation’ but have agreed to the decree and will thus get new strips from Colombian manufacturer Saeta.
Saeta said its initial design ‘was a tribute to the men and women who contribute every day to Haiti’s future’ and ‘was not intended as a political statement’.
The manufacturer added: ‘FIFA determined that certain visual elements could be interpreted differently under its equipment regulations and ultimately requested modifications to the design.
Haiti have been forced to change their World Cup kit design after their jerseys were deemed too ‘political’ by FIFA
Their kits have had a depiction of the Haitian Revolution but they must now remove that
‘While this interpretation differed from our intention, Saeta respected the process and implemented the final requirements communicated by FIFA.’
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Haiti told The Athletic: ‘Following a misinterpretation, FIFA officials asked the federation to remove an image depicting Vertieres and some independence heroes raising the Haitian flag.
‘Vertieres is the site of the last battle leading to our independence, fought on November 18, 1803. Ironically, the team qualified for the 2025 World Cup on November 18, 2025. The federation has not issued any (further) statement on the matter; they simply asked Saeta to change it.’
Football’s rules are made by IFAB – the International Football Association Board – and then administered by FIFA.
Haiti have been intending to take three kits to the World Cup – a blue home one, white away, and red third strip.
They face Scotland at 2am on Sunday before clashes against Brazil and Morocco.
This is only their second World Cup appearance, after a disastrous outing in 1974 when they lost all their games and conceded 14 goals.
But they topped a competitive group to qualify, beating out Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua to book their place in North America.
They also gained attention in their pre-tournament friendlies by thrashing New Zealand 4-0 – England could only beat them 1-0 – before losing to Peru 2-1.
