Indian football team: List of all kit sponsors in history

Two global giants of the sports industry featured in the list.

Indian Football Team have a rich and evolving history, defined by both triumphs and challenges. Over the years, the jerseys they have donned reflect their growth, challenges, and enduring spirit throughout their journey.

The Tigers, draped in their traditional blue inspired by the Ashoka Chakra on the Indian national flag, have proudly adorned kits that embody both their moments of glory and the despair of their downfalls.

Stars were born on the field, wearing this blue and etching their names into the rich football history of the country. Through this journey, several leading sports brands have joined forces with the Blue Tigers, with kits that speak volumes about India’s football heritage to the world.

As the game has evolved over the years, the national team kits have also evolved in parallel, with recent technological innovations improving both the design and performance. Let’s delve into and explore the evolution of kit sponsorships for the team over time.

In-House Kits

The Indian Football Team’s history with kits began in the early days with in-house kits, at a time when sponsorships for national team kits were not yet common. The 1948 London Olympics marked the Indian football team’s debut in international competition after gaining independence.

They played their first international match against France dressed in white buttoned shirts adorned with coloured collars and plackets, paired with white shorts. In 1961, India switched to polo t-shirts with their crest and year embroidered on the left side of the chest, while the collars remained in colour.

Babua (1964)

Indian Football Team’s first partnership with a sports brand took place in 1984 when they joined hands with Babua to manufacture their kits for international competitions.

The kit adopted saffron from the national flag, featuring a solid saffron shirt with the crest and year displayed at the centre of the chest on a square white background.

Umbro (1996)

In 1996, India partnered with the renowned international sporting brand Umbro, who were already manufacturing kits for footballing powerhouses like Brazil and England in the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Umbro designed an elegant kit, reintroducing the white jersey with the brand logo and crest placed at the centre of the chest. The national flag colours of saffron, white, and Indian green were featured on the collar and sleeve cuffs.

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Sapphire Sports (2000)

India joined hands with Sapphire Sports for their kit sponsorship in 2000. The brand came up with one of the fanciest designs for India.

The team wore a vintage white jersey with ‘India’ engraved in small fonts, forming vertical stripes of text across it. The crest was relocated to the left chest, while the tri-colour collar and cuffs remained.

Adidas (2002-2006)

The first-ever association between the Indian Football Team and Adidas took place in 2002. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) signed a deal with the German sports giants to produce the Indian kit. The first kit made for India by Adidas was an all-white strip.

In 2004, the team unveiled a new design featuring a striped blue shirt, combining darker blue stripes on a lighter blue backdrop, complemented by white accents along the side panels. However, this partnership was short-lived, coming to an end in 2006.

Nike (2006 – 2018)

Following the conclusion of their four-year partnership with Adidas in 2006, the AIFF entered into a new seven-year agreement with the American sportswear giant, Nike.

Their debut kits for India featured light blue as the primary colour of the shirt with white shorts. The following year, the kit featured a darker shade of blue, maintaining the white shorts, while the away kit saw a bold transformation, shifting from traditional white to a new reddish design.

Later, India donned a kit designed in all dark blue, with sky blue and red accents on both sleeves. This kit saw India secure silverware like the Nehru Cup and marked the emergence of stars like Sunil Chhetri and Subrata Paul into key figures of Indian football.

In 2011, Nike crafted India’s kit using the same template that was also used for other national teams, like Brazil and the Netherlands. These continuous innovations in design saw the AIFF extend their contract with Nike for an additional five years. They experimented with horizontal stripes for the first time in the same year, introducing an all-blue kit accented by dark blue horizontal stripes.

Ahead of the FIFA U-17 World Cup held in India, Nike revealed an all-blue kit in 2017, designed for both the senior and youth teams. The sky-blue strip, featuring orange vertical stripes on the side panels, became iconic for India on the global stage, with the U-17 team wearing it during the country’s first-ever FIFA World Cup appearance at any level.

The kit also witnessed some of India’s finest performances, including an undefeated streak of nine matches, which propelled the team to their second-highest FIFA ranking of 96 in 2017.

India’s final Nike kit showcased a new shade of blue with an orange stripe running down the jersey and shorts. This kit featured advanced technological innovations, with the expanding stripe improving ventilation during player movements.

Nike’s Dri-FIT technology also ensured they remained cool, dry, and comfortable throughout the game. The partnership concluded in 2018, still standing as the longest-ever kit sponsorship for the Indian football team to date.

Six5Six (2018-2023)

Indian sportswear manufacturer Six5Six replaced Nike as India’s kit maker in 2018. They became the first manufacturer to secure the rights to produce India’s kits, after both Nike and Adidas, who had no such arrangements.

India’s kits by Six5Six stood out for their emphasis on tiger stripes, reflecting the identity of the Indian football team as the Blue Tigers. They experimented with tiger stripes in designs, integrating them on the sleeves, chest, and horizontal stripes. However, this sponsorship was also short-lived and culminated in 2023.

Performax (2023- Present)

In 2023, Performax, an Indian sportswear brand under Reliance Retail, partnered with the AIFF to become the official kit and merchandise sponsor of the Indian football team, a partnership that continues to this day.

The first kit from the brand donned by India was an all-blue kit, with thin red lines running through the shorts and sleeves. The latest kit from this collaboration, released in 2024, features an all-blue strip with designs inspired by the marks of a tiger’s claw, echoing the roar of the Blue Tigers.

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