The FA executive who approved the controversial changes to the England flag on the home shirt to be worn for the first time against Brazil on Saturday left Wembley last year.
Mail Sport has learned that the new kit deal with Nike was signed off by the FA’s former commercial director Navin Singh, who is now Chief Commercial Officer of Six Nations Rugby.
The much-criticised changes to the St George’s Cross introduced by Nike, who have added navy, light blue and purple to the traditional red cross, were approved by Singh in the summer of 2022.
They were not made public until the kit was put on sale earlier this week however, provoking a strong backlash, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and leader of the Opposition Keir Starmer both calling for the FA to revert to using the traditional flag.
Singh left the FA last year after being offered a more senior role by the Six Nations. It is unclear whether the FA’s chief executive Mark Bullingham was made aware of the changes Nike made to the flag before the contract was signed, while the FA’s current commercial director James Gray was not involved at all as he only joined the organisation last December.
The changes to the St George’s Cross introduced by Nike, who have added navy, light blue and purple to the traditional red cross, were approved by Singh in the summer of 2022
Nike launched England’s new home and away kits earlier this week – but they’ve been criticised
The FA defended the new shirt in a statement on Friday which also pointed out that kit manufacturers have tinkered with the flag in the past. A shirt produced by Umbro ahead of the 2012 European Championship featured a host of crosses in four different colours, while the goalkeeping shirt from the same season was covered in cross of differing shades of green.
The FA insisted the new shirt was inspired by the training kit worn by England’s World Cup winning squad in 1966.
‘The new England 2024 home kit has a number of design elements which were meant as a tribute to the 1966 World Cup-winning team,’ a statement read.
‘The coloured trim on the cuffs is inspired by the training gear worn by England’s 1966 heroes, and the same colours also feature on the design on the back of the collar. It is not the first time that different coloured St George’s Cross-inspired designs have been used on England shirts.
‘We are very proud of the red and white St George’s cross – the England flag. We understand what it means to our fans, and how it unites and inspires, and it will be displayed prominently at Wembley tomorrow – as it always is – when England play Brazil.’
The new kit was worn for the first time by England under 21’s in a 5-1 win over Azerbaijan on Friday. Liverpool midfield player Harvey Elliott covered the flag by turning up the collar of his shirt, but claimed afterwards that he was unaware of the controversy and did not even realise there was a flag on the kit.
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