Switzerland's Granit Xhaka has his shirt ripped after a challenge by France's Paul Pogba
Kit manufacturer Puma said it
had traced a problem with ripped shirts for the Swiss team at Euro 2016
to a defective batch of material used only in a limited number of home
jerseys for the team.
During the goalless draw against France on Sunday, which saw
Switzerland join Les Bleus into the knockout phase, at least four Swiss
players had to go to the sidelines to swap their torn tops.
Germany-based Puma said analysis of the jerseys showed there was one
batch of material where yarns had been damaged during production, making
the garment weaker.
"Puma has checked the inventory of all jerseys of all Puma teams and
can assure that such an unfortunate incident does not happen again," it
said in a statement on Monday.
Alongside Switzerland, Puma also provides the kits for Austria, CzechRepublic, Italy and Slovakia.
Rival manufacturer Adidas, who provides kit to nine of the 24 teams
competing in France, told Reuters that suppliers usually provide three
shirts per player, per game.
"The standard usage for these shirts will be a player wears one in
the first half, another in the second half with a third being saved as a
spare, should it be needed on the pitch, or utilised as a giveaway
item," spokesperson Katja Schreiber said in an email.
"Every shirt worn during the tournament will carry unique match day
customisation, hence the need to provide shirts on a match-by-match
basis."
Asked if it was possible for a player to run out of shirts during a
game, Schreiber referred back to football's European governing body.
"This is a process that is put in place by UEFA ... although
federations have a standard approach to utilising these jerseys, they
can be used in any way required during the course of 90 minutes," she
said.
Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, who finished the game with his shirt
intact after a man-of-the-match performance against the French, said he
saw no reason to change kit supplier, despite the odd rip.
"It can happen," he told reporters.
"It means it was a fight on the pitch... Of course, today we had a lot, I can't say we have to change because Puma is great."
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