Indian Hockey Teams to Return to Wearing Traditional Blue Jersey at Asian Games, Saffron to be Second Choice

Earlier, Hockey India (HI) faced severe flak after choosing saffron coloured jerseys instead of the traditional blue jersey during the World Cup held last month.

The Wire Staff

Earlier, Hockey India (HI) faced severe flak after choosing saffron coloured jerseys instead of the traditional blue jersey during the World Cup held last month.

indian hockey teams to return to wearing traditional blue jersey at asian games saffron to be second choice

At the recently-concluded World Cup, the Indian teams had completely dumped the iconic blue jersey and wore the saffron jersey, while white was the second option. Photo: AP/PTI

New Delhi: Following criticism over its new saffron jersey, the Indian hockey teams will return to wearing blue jersey at the upcoming Asian games which will be held in Japan from September 19 to October 4, reported Hindustan Times. The saffron jerseys will be the second choice, said the HT report.

Earlier, Hockey India (HI) faced severe flak after choosing saffron coloured jerseys instead of the traditional blue jersey during the World Cup held last month.

“The IOA (Indian Olympic Association) had given us options regarding the team kit colours and HI selected blue as the first choice for the Indian team’s kit. Orange will be the second choice,” said HI president Dilip Tirkey said on the sidelines of the Asian Games squad send-off.

At the recently-concluded World Cup, the Indian teams had completely dumped the iconic blue jersey and wore the saffron jersey, while white was the second option. Hockey teams generally have two colours for tournaments. Over the years, blue has always been one option for India while the other has changed from white to yellow to saffron over the years.

“The white on sky blue jersey is similar to what we wore at the last Asian Games in Hangzhou (in 2023),” an Indian player who left for Japan on Tuesday (September 8) told HT.

In July this year, former Odisha chief minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo Naveen Patnaik had accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state of being instrumental behind changing the Indian hockey team’s jersey colour from blue to saffron.

Odisha government is the primary sponsor of the Indian hockey team.

The move had triggered widespread criticism from former players and social media users, who called out the “saffronisation” of sports after the systemic imposition of the politically-charged colour by the incumbent BJP over the past decade.

This article went live on September ninth, two thousand twenty six, at twenty-six minutes past four in the afternoon.

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