Reebok Demands Removal of Logo From Israel’s National Football Team Kits Amid BDS Pressure

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Global footwear brand Reebok has demanded Israel’s national soccer team to remove its logo from team uniforms, following pressure from the BDS movement over the company’s complicity in “Israel’s grave crimes against Palestinians.”

Israeli media reported that Reebok had instructed its Israeli importer, MSG, to remove the logo from the kits it supplies independently to the team.

Israel’s Football Association is now threatening to take legal action against Reebok, accusing it of having chosen “to succumb to boycott threats”.

Boycott Reebok

This year, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement called for a boycott of Reebok over its involvement with Israel’s Football Association.

The BDS movement says Reebok is “complicit in Israel’s grave crimes against Palestinians.”

Why: Reebok is the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA), which includes teams in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

The International Court of Justice has ruled that Israel’s entire occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal and violates the prohibition against apartheid.

Reebok claims its mission is to create products that boldly inspire human movement for all, “yet it sponsors the apartheid the IFA helps sustain, including denying Palestinians the right to freedom of movement,” the BDS movement says.

At the beginning of 2025, Reebok signed a two-year contract with the IFA after Italian sportswear company Erreà withdrew from a similar contract following boycott calls, without ever having sent jerseys to the IFA. Erreà was to replace PUMA, which did not renew its contract with the IFA following a 5-year global boycott campaign.

In July 2018, it was announced that Adidas was no longer sponsoring the IFA following an international campaign led by Palestinian sports teams and the delivery of over 16,000 signatures to Adidas headquarters.

The BDS movement also launced a campain, #BoycottReebok, “until it ends its complicity in Israel’s illegal land grabs and apartheid regime.”

As a major global athletic apparel maker and the main international sponsor of the Israel Football Association, Reebok’s sponsorship “brings international legitimacy to the IFA’s actions.”

Sporticide: Israel’s Attacks on Palestinian Sports

Israel has bombed and destroyed Palestinian stadiums and sports structures and routinely denied freedom of movement to Palestinian athletes.

It has imprisoned and shot Palestinian athletes, and killed Palestinian children playing football. Palestinian athletes are regularly prevented from training and participating in competitions, at home and abroad.

As part of Israel genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, Israel is also committing sporticide. As of January 2025, Israel has killed at least 715 Palestinian athletes and footballersand destroyed or damaged all Palestinian sports facilities in Gaza, including stadiums, gyms and club facilities, some of which were used as detention and torture camps.

“The IFA is complicit in Israel’s crimes against Palestinian sport,” the BDS movement says.

The reported move comes as UEFA considers measures against Israel’s Football Association this week amid growing calls for the national team to be banned from World Cup qualifiers and for Israeli club teams to be excluded from European football competitions over the ongoing genocide in Gaza.