Haiti have agreed to change both their home and away World Cup kits after they were told by FIFA that the Caribbean nation’s shirt had been deemed “political”.The design contained an image of several freedom fighters raising the country’s flag, based on the final battle of the Haitian Revolution, which freed the island’s inhabitants from slavery under French rule.A spokesperson for the Haitian team told The Athletic that FIFA deeming the shirt as political was a “misinterpretation”, but that they had asked kit manufacturers Saeta to amend the jerseys.“Following a misinterpretation, FIFA officials asked the federation to remove an image depicting Vertières and some independence heroes raising the Haitian flag,” said the spokesperson.“Vertières is the site of the last battle leading to our independence, fought on November 18, 1803. Ironically, the team qualified for the 2025 World Cup on November 18, 2025. The federation has not issued any (further) statement on the matter; they simply asked Saeta to change it.”Colombian kit manufacturer Saeta released their own statement on social media late on Tuesday evening, in which they insisted the design was intended to demonstrate “the pride, resilience and spirit of the Haitian people.”“During the review process, FIFA determined that certain visual elements could be interpreted differently under its equipment regulation and ultimately requested modification to the design,” the company added.“Several concepts were developed and refined over a number of months and submitted through FIFA standard approval process… (it) was intended as a tribute to the men and women who contribute every day to Haiti’s future and was not intended as a political statement.”The Athletic contacted FIFA for comment on the rationale behind their decision, but had not received a response by the time of publication.The design is located at the bottom of Haiti’s shirt (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)Under IFAB rules, adjudicated by FIFA during their own competitions, symbols or images which could be deemed political are liable to being banned.For example, European confederation UEFA asked Ukraine to change their jerseys ahead of Euro 2020 after an outline of the country’s border included the contested, Russian-occupied region of Crimea.The Haitian Revolution, led by ex-slave Toussaint Louverture, has been recognised as the only successful slave revolution in recorded human history to have resulted in a nation governed by its former captives.However, this is not the first time that Haiti have been forced to amend a design last-minute. During this February’s Winter Olympics, the IOC deemed an image of Louverture on the nation’s ski-suits to not comply with regulations governing athlete expression, with designer Stella Jean forced to hand sew over the revolutionary’s face.FIFA was previously criticised for an accused breach of its own political neutrality in December by awarding the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize to Donald Trump, with Gianni Infantino going on to say that “I think we should all support what he’s doing because I think it’s looking pretty good.”Haiti’s first game will take place against Scotland in Foxborough on Saturday, with their new shirts, teased on social media by defender Jean-Kévin Duverne, now lacking the battle mural.Jun 11, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms