Smaller nations set for success with new kit scheme
Monday, November 15, 2021
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Some of Europe's smaller national associations gathered in Italy recently to finalise designs for the 2022-24 edition of the UEFA Kit Assistance Scheme.
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Eight European national associations will benefit from bespoke new playing and training kits again next season thanks to the UEFA Kit Assistance Scheme, which will run in partnership with Erreà Sport over the next four years.
Andorra, Belarus, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta and San Marino are all signed up to the programme, which provides smaller nations with customised training wear and matchday clothing for their senior and Under-21 national teams.
Association representatives recently joined UEFA at Erreà HQ in north-eastern Italy for a tour of the factory and live demonstration of the kit production process, finalising the soon-to-be-revealed designs and receiving an update on UEFA kit regulations.
Accompanied throughout by Erreà chairman, Angelo Gandolfi, the participants were able to enjoy the experience of taking part in the kit design and production, all of which takes place at the company's HQ.
The Kit Assistance Scheme has been operating since 2007, allowing those associations who lack the sufficient bargaining power with kit suppliers to play in top-quality clothing, featuring bespoke designs linked to each nation's own rich history and traditions that are guaranteed to strike a chord with players and fans alike. Erreà will supply kits from 2022 until 2026, and is the third UEFA partner for the Kit Assistance Scheme, following adidas and Macron.
UEFA president, Aleksander Čeferin
"Football players across Europe relish the honour of wearing their national team shirt – and fans stand together with their team and identify with the players by also donning the shirt.
"Through our Kit Assistance Scheme, we are not only emphasising UEFA’s strong commitment towards our member associations, a relationship which is a cornerstone of European football, we are also underlining our firm determination to foster national team football and promote its importance."
Angelo Gandolfi, Erreà chairman
"We’re very proud to have this great opportunity to kit out UEFA’s national teams thanks to the Kit Assistance Scheme. This really is a great opportunity that allows us to design customised products, where we really can create a national team’s identity.
"It was mostly a team effort in which we shared strategies, designs, a sense of attention to detail and the creation of these truly wonderful kits, where you can perceive the identity of every single national team. It really is an extraordinarily beautiful and very, very attractive range."
UEFA Kit Assistance Scheme: what the associations say
Andorra: Xavier Masobe, communications/marketing specialist
"This scheme is a great opportunity for us because we have access to a great team of professionals who can put our identity into our shirt. In addition, they’ve helped us both logistically and economically, so it’s a great opportunity for us."
Belarus: Anton Zubov, international department specialist
The kit assistance scheme is really beneficial for us because we can design our own modern shirt and our own elements of national team equipment, and further get to know a great company like Erreà.
"We are able to design our exclusive national team line, and because of the help of UEFA and Erreà, we are able to receive a good quality and quantity of kit at a very reasonable price, which is important for associations like us.
"Our design incorporates a contemporary style because we have a new generation of young players in the Belarus national team and are striving hard to achieve good results in competitions, but on the other side it also incorporates traditional elements, which reflect the national colours and historical traditions of Belarusian culture."
Cyprus: Savvas Constantinou, technical director
"For the Cyprus Football Association it's a fantastic scheme. it gave us the chance to create our own design for the shirts and training kit, which we don’t have the possibility to do in the open market.
"We tried to design a simple and characteristic shirt, which we believe that our players will be very comfortable in and very proud to wear. We are excited to collaborate with the professional people at Erreà, and we enjoyed our experience here - it was really amazing."
Faroe Islands: Bardur Lava Olsen, kit manager
"It has helped us to get our identity into our shirts. We have chosen modern shirts with raw nature in the north Atlantic. It's been very interesting to meet Erreà and all the people here, as well as the other associations."
San Marino: Andrea Zoppis, international relations
"The kit assistance scheme is very important for a little federation like us and all the smaller associations. It gives us the commercial power that without this scheme we don’t have.
"We have the opportunity to see how Erreà works, from the beginning of the design to the realisation of the jersey and it's very interesting. The opportunity to create a new journey is emotional - we choose some elements that are connected to the history of our country and we are proud of it."
Why did UEFA choose Erreà for the 2022-2026 cycle of the Kit Assistance Scheme?
Erreà Sport were chosen through a tender process which emphasised criteria such as price, quality, range, kit personalisation, logistics and merchandising opportunities.
The family-owned company, founded in 1988, are one of the world’s most innovative team wear manufacturers, and are currently working with over 300 clubs and associations around the world and across a wide variety of sporting disciplines. Erreà has also obtained the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification on all articles, earning plaudits for research and development activities in relation to new fabric such as the recently presented antiviral and antibacterial fabric Ti-Energy.
Erreà is the only major manufacturer producing goods in their own EU factories, which means there is no third-party ordering, ensuring that every stage of production from thread selection to finished garment can be monitored and controlled from the company headquarters.