Russia football team ditch new Adidas kit after flag colour criticism

Russia's national football team are set to ditch their newly-made Adidas kit for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifier against Belgium this weekend after spotting an apparent oversight on the design.

The new kit, which was revealed last week, features a red torso with striped red, blue and white sleeves in descending order, which is meant to resemble the Russian tricolour flag.

But many have since pointed out that this order of stripes doesn't actually resemble the Russian flag at all — which is white, blue and red in descending order — and actually is closer to the Serbian flag instead.

Speaking to AFP, the Russian Football Union said the team would continue playing in the kit it had used in previous matches.

Meanwhile, the Adidas launch of the kit pointed toward the striped sleeves as "reintroducing the strong, bold colours of the nation's flag".

But the team's manager Stanislav Cherchesov said it was "interesting".

He added: "When fans support the team by clapping with their arms in the air, you'll be able to see the Russian flag on the sleeves."

Euronews has invited Adidas to respond to this article.