Haiti changes World Cup kits over 'political' elements

The Haitian national team will be changing its kits for the World Cup after FIFA deemed a depiction representing the country's independence as too political.

In a statement posted Tuesday, Colombian sports brand Saeta, which designed and made Haiti's jerseys, said that it had made "requested modifications" to the kits following a review from FIFA. 

Saeta added that the concepts were submitted to FIFA throughout the process, but that FIFA later ruled that "certain visual elements could be interpreted differently."

In a statement to The Athletic, a spokesperson for the Haitian team said FIFA asked the federation to remove the image.

"Following a misinterpretation, FIFA officials asked the federation to remove an image depicting Vertières and some independence heroes raising the Haitian flag," the spokesperson said. 

"The federation has not issued any [further] statement on the matter; they simply asked Saeta to change it."