Soccer jerseys are as known for the well-placed sponsor messages as they are for their colors, so it’s a big deal whenever those get altered. When French Ligue 1 team Paris Saint-Germain plays two matches on Wednesday 24th and Saturday 29 November, they will no longer be repping Emirates Airlines, but the people of Paris.
“In tribute to the victims of Nov. 13 attacks, the Paris Saint-Germain players will wear a special jersey [that] only bears the message “I AM PARIS” and nothing else,” the team said in a statement Monday afternoon. “This message of unity will appear on the shirt in the space usually occupied by our main partner Emirates.”
This is the second PSG jersey design meant to honor the victims of the attacks claimed by ISIS that killed more than 129 in the city. Previously, the players wore the words in smaller print just below the team’s crest and over their hearts.
Emirates okay’ed this week’s bigger change, the team says, and has been cooperative throughout the process of memorializing the victims.
The team will wear the new jerseys during a Champions League match against Malmö and during a Ligue 1 home match against Troyes.
The home match will be extra poignant: It will be the first home match in the team’s Paris-based Parc des Princes stadium since the attacks.
