Football Fuss

The teams that find prominent support include Germany,France,Spain,the Netherlands and Portugal. Interestingly,England and Italy,which are sponsored by Umbro,do not find any takers,primarily owing to the non-availability of the merchandise. Shahid Sheikh,one of the managers at a Nike store in Pune,says,“Even though Nike sponsors a quarter of the teams playing in the championship,only the bigger teams with players who are regular faces at the English Premier League,the Spanish and the German Bundesliga,are popular,” says he.

A jersey costs as much as Rs 3,300 at Nike and Rs 3,000 at Adidas,but Sheikh mentions that there are cheaper options available. “The pre-game shirts and the post-match shirts are priced significantly cheaper,around Rs 1,200 to 1,800. Other merchandise like scarves,caps and the team balls,are all priced from Rs 1,000 to 1,500,” he mentions. While the official jerseys are made in Thailand and Philippines; the pre-match and post-match T-shirts are made in India,Pakistan and Bangladesh.