Adidas has confirmed that it will end its sponsorship of the T-Mobile cycling team after yet more doping revelations. The company stood by the team after the scandals around the Tour de France this year, but the final straw for Adidas was the latest testimony of Patrik Sinkewitz, a popular German rider sacked by T-Mobile, in which he revealed doping incidents much later than originally admitted. Adidas said its contract would be not be extended beyond its 2008 expiry date and added that it was seeking to terminate it with immediate effect.
On the other hand, preparations are in full swing at Adidas for next year’s European football championships, with the introduction of new jerseys for several teams sponsored by Adidas, as well as the launch of a new commercial around the German team, retained by Adidas at a high cost earlier this year. The spot, which will be bombarded to German consumers over the next weeks, features Adidas endorsees from Lukas Podolski to Bastian Schweinsteiger and Kevin Kuranyi.
Among the teams endorsed by Adidas that have qualified for the finals, to be held in Austria and Switzerland next summer, Germany, Spain, Greece and France have all unveiled their new jerseys, while Romania will show off its new stripes at the beginning of next year. Adidas further announced that it has extended its partnership of more than two decades with the Spanish football federation until 2014.
Meanwhile Adidas has presented the 9th generation of its Predator football boot. The shoe has undergone heavy testing by Zinédine Zidane, the French football champion who recently ended his competitive career. He participated in the design of the product. It is said to give 3 percent more strength to a player’s goal-scoring kick, compared with the previous Predator model, because high-density tungsten powder strategically placed inside the foam in the sole moves more weight to the front of the shoe at the time of the shot. The black and white model will be available in retail stores next month, and other new models will be sold during the European competitions next summer.
Separately, the Adidas Originals unit is diversifying into denims through a 4-year partnership with Diesel, starting from the beginning of Feb. 2008. To begin with, two male and female jeans models under the “Adidas Originals Denim by Diesel” label will be sold exclusively at Adidas Originals stores. They will carry both the Adidas trefoil and Diesel branding.
