The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has banned Dutch club Ajax from wearing a new outfit that honors reggae singer Bob Marley for carrying three little birds at the base of the collar in honor of the song "Three Little Birds."
When debuting the kit against PEC Zwolle recently, UEFA forced Ajax and adidas to slightly alter the design. As a result, the match version features an all-black back, without the three small red, yellow and green birds that originally appeared just below the collar.
According to Ajax, in UEFA's view, this is "an additional symbol, beyond the club, the equipment sponsor or the jersey itself."
Ajax gear that pays homage to Bob Marley with the three little red, yellow and green birds
Bob Marley's song became an "unofficial anthem" of the club more than ten years ago. The connection between Ajax and Bob Marley dates back to a friendly match against Cardiff in Wales in August 2008.
After the match, Ajax invited Cardiff fans to stay in the stadium and Marley's song, Three Little Birds, played over the loudspeakers.
Ajax fans liked the song enough that they soon adopted it as their unofficial anthem. Ajax plays the song at every game when they are the host.
Despite violating UEFA regulations, the Bob Marley-inspired third kit proved to be very popular. According to publications, Ajax marketing manager Menno Geelen said that it "sold at least four times as much as any other Ajax shirt".
However, UEFA has said that only the club and/or sponsor's logo should be part of the equipment. This means that birdies are not covered by the regulations.
The UEFA Equipment Regulations state that the "collar area" must "contain only the team identification in accordance with Paragraph 19.01. The collar area must not contain any manufacturer identification or sponsor advertising."