The Moroccan government has asked the German sporting goods manufacturer Adidas to withdraw a collection of T-shirts inspired by "Moroccan tiles" because it considers it a "theft" of the country's cultural heritage for the supposed benefit of Algeria , a Moroccan government source reported.
The source, who requested anonymity, explained that the Moroccan Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication hired a Moroccan lawyer "urgently" to "defend against a new theft of Moroccan heritage", and that it is attributed to Algeria.
The new collection was announced on September 23 in a tweet from Adidas Mena, which claimed that the new design is inspired by the tiles of the El Mechouar palace, in the Algerian city of Tlemcen, bordering Morocco. The tweet announced that the sale of the new jersey would be from October 14.
The Moroccan source added that the lawyer sent a "legal reprimand" to the legal representative of Adidas to alert the company that the new design of the shirt represents an "attempt to steal one of the traditional Moroccan cultural heritages to use it outside its context".
He also added that this "theft" contributes to "the loss and distortion of the identity and history of these cultural elements."
The source added that the Ministry of Culture will spare no effort to prevent Moroccan heritage from being "stolen", defend it throughout the world and deal with any such practice.
