Showing posts with label tibet football shirt. Show all posts

#16 Tibet (Home, 2006/2007)

This shirt is obviously one of my favourites, for several reasons. First of all, it's a really rare shirt, that fits perfectly in my collection. It also looks amazing, with a lot of beautiful details and a retro-look that makes it even more interesting. Third, it's from a quite remote location. Last but not least, it is made by Hummel, and Hummel rocks.My housemaid said this one is her favourite. I really can't pick a favourite one, but this one is certainly in the top 10.

Tibet, as you might now, isn't a country. It is an Autonomous Region in China, and independence movements have been fighting for years, demanding political separation from China, and of course, the independence of the lands where Tibetan people live. Tibet makes the headlines every now and then for political reasons, but never because their sucess in football.

Actually, as they're not an independent country, they can't play in official competitions. I believe their FA (formed by exiled Tibetans) is trying to gain official status, and hey, if the Faroe Islands can play, why can't Tibet?

Love the retro style!
I don't think they have any professional players, so their national team is composed mostly by amateur players, most of them political activists too. No surprise they always suffer heavy defeats. They played in a couple of unofficial tournaments, such as the FIFI Wild Cup in 2006, and the ELF Cup. Tibet faced other teams that don't have FIFA status, like Greenland, Northern Cyprus and Gibraltar. They used this shirt in FIFI Wild Cup:


Cool things about the shirt: as I said, the retro look is great, and I love the flag on the sleeve. It also has some words in Tibetan on the collar. And, of course, those iconic Hummel arrows. Brilliant job, guys.

Love the flag, love the FA badge that looks like a Picasso painting

Maybe it says "Free Tibet", but I have no clue


Tibet recently changed sponsors from Hummel to Copa, and the good thing is that their shirt still looks awesome.

Dalai Lama will be their defensive midfielder in the next few years.
It's really amazing and beautiful to see how football can unite these people, and also how it can boost their independence thoughts. It's certainly not a huge boost, but it's a way of spreading the word, and making a statement: we're here, and we want to have our own country. After that, we want to play football together, under our magnificent flag with our amazing kits.

There's a documentary called The Forbidden Team about their first international match, against Greenland. I couldn't find the whole thing, but there's a trailer on Youtube. "It's not just playing football, it's more than that. It's playing for the country that is longing for freedom.".


(their kits always looks incredible, in the video you can see their old Hummel one).
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