Germany to redesign soccer jerseys with numbers resembling Nazi symbol

The German Football Association (DFB) is working to redesign soccer jerseys with numbers that have conjured up memories of the country’s Nazi past.

The uniforms in question feature a number 4 closely resembling the lightning-like logo worn by Adolf Hitler’s Schutzstaffel paramilitary organization, better known as the SS.

Further complicating matters, the uniforms were supplied by Adidas, which is still striving to recover from its collaboration with the Nazi-sympathizing rapper formerly known as Kanye West.

German soccer officials said Monday that none of the parties involved in producing the controversial jerseys initially detected any semblance between its design and the aesthetic of the nationalist party responsible for World War II and genocidal death camps.

But public attention to the matter caused sports executives to rethink the uniforms, with the DFB saying they “do not want to provide a platform for discussions.”

The organization added it will develop an “alternative design” for the uniforms’ problematic number 4 and use that on the new jerseys.

The 4 on the German team’s current jersey is most problematic when paired with a second number 4, somewhat replicating the look of the double-lightning bolt emblem worn by SS officers.

Adidas — which has produced the German team’s uniforms for more than 70 years, according to CNN — reportedly told local media it would also immediately block the number 44 from being printed on customized jerseys as the company actively opposes “xenophobia, antidemitism, violence and hatred in any form.”

Adidas found itself facing another Nazi problem in October 2022 when West, now legally known as Ye, increasingly voiced distaste for Jewish people while working with the sports apparel brand.

“I can say antisemitic things and Adidas can’t drop me,” he boasted before being cut loose. “Now what?”

A New York Times report revealed employees at Adidas knew about Ye’s antisemitism well before the company ended its nearly decade-long deal with the “Black Skinhead” rapper. Ye and Adidas both claimed to have lost at least $1 billion when they parted ways.