Havana/Adidas is once again betting on Cuban sports, after nine years of not having ties with the Island. First it was announced that it will dress Cuban athletes in Paris 2024, and this Wednesday it was reported that it will once again supply the participants’ clothing to the Havana Marathon, which will take place in November of this year.
The commercial agreement allows for its renewal each year and includes all supplies and the delivery of materials for the race, in addition to other sporting events in Cuba.
The official site Hit He pointed out that Omar Valdés, director of United Products Ltd. – the brand’s distributor in Cuba – remarked that “that chapter that was lost about Adidas and Cuban sports will have to be resumed. “We intend to do more.”
A commercial dispute separated the paths of Adidas and Cuban athletes since May 2015, after the Puma brand signed an agreement with the Cuban Olympic Committee and dressed the island’s athletes.
The commercial agreement allows its renewal every year and includes all inputs
However, the company with the three lines returned to a place where it has a historical and symbolic link. He dressed Cuban athletes since the 1968 Olympic Games and was part of the successes of Cuban sport on the international stage, when it dominated the Central American and Caribbean Games, the Pan American Games and even the Olympics between 1980 and 2008.
But the greatest reference in that relationship was not necessarily an athlete. Adidas was part of Fidel Castro’s ‘revolutionary’ clothing. He started with footwear. In 2000, the typical military green uniform of the leader of the Cuban Revolution was combined with tennis shoes from the German brand in an anti-imperialist march in Havana.
Two years later, on May 14, 2002, former United States President Jimmy Carter, who during his term (1977-1981) tried to reestablish relations with the Island, visited Castro in Havana. Both went to the Latin American Stadium for a friendly baseball game between the best players from the eastern and western zones of the Cuban championship. There, Castro already wore an Adidas jacket with the colors of Cuba, leaving behind the olive green suit.
Four years later, the dictator transferred the leadership of the Cuban State to his brother Raúl Castro, after suffering a diverticulitis crisis and being forced to undergo surgery. Since 2006, his few public appearances were in sports clothing and not only Adidas, since he was also seen with Nike, Puma, Reebok and Fila in the final part of his life.
Although Adidas predominated in most of the images from international agencies and those published by the Government, the brand always denied any agreement with Castro. On the other hand, Adidas did sponsor the Cuban Olympic Committee until 2012 and provided the Olympic team with shoes and clothing.
