Ajax, Bob Marley, or a 'forbidden' jersey

9 minute read

To a football team, their jersey is the bearer of their identity. It combines passion, love and responsibility. The players dropped the jersey on the field. However, many times this jersey came in front of us and became something bigger. I will tell such a story today.

Ajax unveiled three of their jerseys for the 2021-22 season. The third jersey to be used by them became popular among football fans overnight. This completely black V-neck jersey had three distinctly stitched designs in yellow, green and red on the shoulders and sleeves. These three colors are associated with the roadfare community in the Caribbean. The jersey of this Dutch club is not usually sold outside Amsterdam. However, this third jersey of Ajax made in honor of Bob Marl has sold a record number in the football world. On the first day of the sale, the jersey recorded the highest sales on the first day and later, beyond Amsterdam, reached the court of football lunatics all over the football world.

Bob Marley wearing an Ajax jersey in the eyes of the artist; Image Credit: Choirul Annam

But Ajax did not get permission to play on the field wearing this beautiful jersey. That being said, the original design of this jersey will not be on the field later.

You will notice three cross marks under the collar on the back of the Ajax jersey. These three crosses represent the flag of Amsterdam. They also use these three cross marks in their new jersey. But they painted the crosses red, yellow, and green, and placed a picture of a bird on top of the crosses in harmony with the color. These designs, colors and birds were intended for Bob Marley. These three birds represent a famous Reggae Anthem of Marl. Raggae is a genre of music that originated in Jamaica in the 1960s. It comes from the English word rags. The song that Ajax designed their jersey for is 'Three Little Birds'.

Pictures of the 3 controversial birds on the back of the jersey; Image Credit: Adidas

According to Bersik UEFA rules, these birds cannot be used in jerseys. The rule there is that no unofficial publicity can be made in the jersey, nor can anything be used that is not affiliated with the club and that clearly represents something else. So the jerseys on the Ajax field must be without the birds. UEFA commented that

The birds in Ajax jerseys are in honor of Bob Marl's song. This is not something the Ajax team has. This goes against the equipment-related rules in Article 13. That's why crosses with this bird will not be in the jersey in all UEFA competitions. "

UEFA is very much aware of the jerseys of their clubs. The size of the jersey and what can be in the jersey, how many can be, are all according to their rules. Only two badges are allowed on the jersey - one from the jersey manufacturer, the other from the club's own monogram. Apart from this, according to the tournament or any special matter, in which all the clubs take part, they will be able to put extra badges. Such as wearing a black badge on the occasion of mourning, wearing the badge of the Champions League and playing in that tournament. The two sleeves of the jersey cannot be two colors. If so, of course the sleeves can't be one color, there must be a design.

Porto jersey for the 1996-97 season; Image Credit: Old Football Shirts

Again, the front of the jersey should not be painted in a way that is not perpendicular to the whole part of the jersey. If there were such rules in the last century, we would be deprived of the taste of some classic jerseys. In this case we can say that the jersey with the design of Porto Dragon of 1998. However, Real Madrid's 2014 Dragon Design jersey has been passed, only the shape of the dragon looks like a watermark.

Real Madrid jersey for the 2014-15 season; Image Credit: Bargain Football Shirts

However, we cannot blame UEFA for blowing its nose at the design of the jersey. Because, it has to be ensured that the players can identify each other on the field without any difficulty. The jerseys of the 20 players on the field have to be such that they do not match with any of the two goalkeepers. Even the coaching staff on the touchline and other players should not wear colored clothes nearby, the referee made sure at the beginning of the game.

The birds may not be in Ajax jersey, but the crosses will be. Because the crosses are taken from the flag of Amsterdam and Ajax is a club in Amsterdam.

Although UEFA banned the jersey, Ajax did not stop selling it. In fact, Ajax sent the design to UEFA a year before the jersey was released. There UEFA objected to the birds, so they just removed the birds from their play jerseys. At present, jersey makers show the design of the jersey to UEFA a year ago and get its approval. This is the reason why there is no problem at the last moment. If UEFA has any objections to the design, it can be corrected at this time.

Even before the Adidas-made Ajax jersey was handed over to UEFA, they knew for themselves that UEFA would not approve it. Because the UEFA rulebook clearly states that the bottom of the collar can only contain something that carries the identity of the team. In this case, Adidas does a wonderful job. At the same time they spell this jersey in two ways. One is made for the fans, the other just for playing on the field. What is the difference between the two jerseys? Only these three birds will not exist.

The bird that does not have a jersey on the field is first noticed by the spectators in the game against AC Zwolle in the Dutch league in September 2021. In the game that was won 2-0, the spectators came to the field wearing jerseys with pictures of birds. The jerseys they wore were banned by UEFA on the same day. However, neither Ajax nor Adidas made a loss, on the contrary, jersey sales increased. At the same time, fans buy a lot of it. But where is Bob Marl's relationship with Ajax that Ajax made an official match day jersey in his honor?

This is Ali Yassin, the announcer at Cardiff City Stadium; Image Credit: Cardiff City website

For this we have to go back to 2006. That year Ajax played a pre-season friendly against Cardiff City. That was Cardiff's last pre-season game that season. The game ended 0-0. Authorities asked Ali Yassin, a former Cardiff City stadium announcer, to play Mike's song to keep Ajax fans on the field for some more time after the game. The song that Ali Yassin played was the song "Three Little Birds" sung by Bob Marl.

Earlier, Ajax had no music of its own for fans. After this day, Ajax supporters got their anthem 'Three Little Birds'. The fans enjoyed this song very much on the field that day. Although Ajax could not return from Old Ninian Park that day with a win, the audience took the song from there. This short incident of the day later became hugely significant. The spectators would come to the gallery to sing this song in every game, even before the game the spectators would have this song with Ajax salute. So after a while the authorities started playing it officially in every game at the Johan Cruyff Arena as the club's anthem, which is still going on.

Kai-Mani Marley, son of Bob Marley, came down to the field at halftime in September 2016 to play against Athens in the Champions League and sang the song "Three Little Birds" to the audience. Coincidentally, Ajax also won the match 3-0. He says his father's songs have become so popular with fans of a football team.

"My father was a big football fan. If he had heard that his song "Three Little Birds" was sung all over the Ajax stadium together, he would have had a lot more. "

Kai-Money Marley performing 'Three Little Birds' in front of Ajax fans at Johan Cruyff Arena; Image Credit:

Dean Mouhtaropoulos

It is true that Bob Marley was a big football supporter, a fan of the Scottish club Celtic. It is even rumored that he was tested as a midfielder at Celtic Park when he was younger. It is also learned from his other son Rohan Marl that he used to record Celtic games when he was on a tour of Europe with his band and then when he returned home at the end of the tour, he used to watch these old games with his children.

Bob Marley, when he was a Celtic fan; Image Credit: Jamaican Celt

He lived in London in 1986 when work on his Exodus album, which featured a song called The Three Little Birds, began. He would take a short break from his busy schedule and walk around the river Thames. From there he would often go to Battersea Park, accompanied by his band The Wheelers. There they played football among themselves. At present, a blue plaque has been erected outside Oakley Street at 42 to commemorate these moments in Bob Marl's life. This was just a few years before his death. Then in 1971, at the age of 36, he passed away.

Bob Marley and his band Wheelers at Kennington Park in London while working on the Exodus album; Image Credit: Bob Marley on Twitter

Bob Marley has become immortal for his songs. Music fans took responsibility for keeping him immortal. Ajax supporters have now taken on the responsibility of immortalizing him on that list. Twenty-six years after his death, his song has been adopted by Ajax, whose stadium now has thousands of voices every day. Although not officially, Ajax has been able to give him a place in the unofficial jersey, is that anything less?

This article is in Bangla language. This is about the 'banned' jersey of Ajax and why FIFA banned it.

Featured Image Credit: Erwin Spek

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References:

1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakgarnerpurkis/2021/09/15/why-ajaxs-bob-marley-jersey-ban-is-a-massive-win/?sh=7baa8b9518d5

2. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/ajax-bob-marley-shirt-banned-24974096

3. https://en.as.com/en/2021/09/13/soccer/1631561966_961886.html