The International Olympic Committee (IOC) sent a letter April 26 to Andre Gorgemans, secretary-general of the Swiss-based World Federation of Sporting Goods Industries, spelling out the rules regarding the size of logos for Olympic Games.
Gorgemans said, “the letter merely refers to the Olympic charter. These are not new rules, but now the IOC will be strictly enforcing them”.
The regulations are aimed at establishing parity among sports manufacturers.
This means that the sports manufacturers will have to scale down their logos for the Turin 2006 Winter Olympic Games in order to conform to IOC rules.
Adidas-Salomon-AG would be the most visibly affected company because of its famous three-stripe logo, said Gorgemans. Other brands affected include Fila, Arena, Umbro, Hummel and Kappa, he said.
Gorgemans added, “obviously Adidas is unhappy with this and they want to reserve their historical rights”.
Adidas spokeswoman Anne Putz said the ruling would force the company to remove its three-stripe logo from clothing, but not from shoes and other equipment. “We are in contact with the IOC marketing department and we hope to reach a long-term solution”.
