The shirt was unveiled on Monday on the social media handles of the German kits manufacturing giants.

The shirt is dominated with red and has the design of the Ghanaian flag on the chest.

The Black Stars will wear this new strips when they face either Uruguay, Portugal and Korea Republic in Group H.

Ghana will open their campaign against Portugal on November 24 at Stadium 974 in Doha.

Four days later, the Black Stars return to action with a clash with South Korea at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan.

Ghana will wrap up their group stage adventure with their much-anticipated encounter with Uruguay at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah.

German kit manufacturing company, Puma, officially unveiled the jersey on Monday, August 29 on their social media handle.

The new kit is heavily dominated with red with a design of the national flag and written print of Ghana at the front.

Meanwhile, the release has received serious backlash from some citizens as they share their discontent on social media.

While many strongly opposed the new kit, a few were pleased with the design.

The newly designed kits will be used for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.

The clean design in white features the striking red, gold and green colours of the national flag on the sleeve cuffs.

This time, the home shirt has a new collar design having a yellow colour as well as the puma tag showing inside and at the button left side of the shirt.

All lined up in horizontal order, the puma logo comes with the text on the right side of the chest, with a bold Black Star at the centre and the logo of the Ghana Football Association occupying the left side.

The new Ghana jersey – which will be worn at the Qatar 2022 Fifa World Cup – is inspired by iconic moments from national team history – including the 3-2 victory over Italy at Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, replicas will be available for sale in September according to reports.

The replica jersey is made with 100% recycled polyester with dryCELL sweat-wicking technology to keep you dry and comfortable throughout the 90 minutes and beyond – no matter the time, pitch or place.

According to PUMA, the termination of the deal was a result of Nigeria’s athletes’ inability to wear the brand at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

It was learnt that several efforts were made to give the athletes the PUMA kits, including shipping bags of kits with 40 items each to Tokyo through the Nigerian Embassy in Japan but to no avail.

PUMA terminated the contract in a letter dated Wednesday, August 4, 2021, and signed by the company’s director Manuel Edlheimb.

Meanwhile, the contract was signed on July 24, 2019, in Doha by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) board under Ibrahim Gusau.

It was expected to expire in 2022 and has been the genesis of a major crisis that the athletics body is battling to date.

A significant section of the deal stated that Puma will supply kits to all age categories to Nigeria’s athletics team for four years.

MORE:

• NDC makes interesting offer to nine-year-old Oswald

• Shake up in police; Check out those who got new post under new IGP

• Van Vicker celebrates 44th birthday with lovely family photos

The contract also includes monetary rewards for Nigerian athletes who wear the sportswear during medal presentations at the Olympics games — with gold medalists earning $15,000, silver medalists getting 5,000 while a bronze medal will attract $3,000.

However, the contract has led to an ongoing legal battle between the Sports Ministry and the factional board of AFN.

In addition, Gusau, alongside Sunday Adeleye, technical director of the body, were dragged to court by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for the alleged diversion of over $75,000.

Consequently, the ministry failed to allow the Nigerian athletics team to wear the Puma branded apparel at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics, arguing that it’s “a subject of a criminal investigation.”

Reacting to the latest development, Puma, in a letter addressed to the AFN, announced the sudden termination of the contract — about two years after it was signed.

The letter, dated August 4, added that the premature ending of the deal is due to Nigerian athletes’ inability to wear the brand at the ongoing Olympics.

“We are referring to the licensing and sponsoring agreement signed between our company and your federation,” the letter read.

“As a direct consequence of the recent developments, particularly at the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 and pursuant to clauses 9.2 and 7.3 of the Agreement, we hereby terminate the Agreement with immediate effect.

“Puma especially declares to be discharged from any or all obligations towards all stakeholders involved and reserves all rights against these entities and individuals.”

The campaign dubbed, “Be Puma Safe” brought to life the importance of road safety and sought to help shape and change the behaviour of users of the road, especially drivers.

Mr. Wilson Asota, the Country Health and Safety Manager of Puma Energy Ghana, says, “It is important that we care for the people, the community and the country we serve. Their business is our business, so it is important to let road users know that any form of carelessness on the road has dire consequences. At the end of the day, we want to see people go back to their families alive and safe”.

Staff of Puma Energy Ghana took to the streets to educate road users of the road safety protocols while distributing branded souvenirs such as stickers, t-shirts, and hand sanitizers to motorists and other road users.

Explaining the rationale behind the campaign, Ms. Selassie Tettey,Marketing and Corporate Affairs – Puma Energy West Africasays, “as a global integrated mid and downstream energy company,we prioritize safety in all our activities hence the need for the campaign. Our mandate as an energy business is “Energising Communities” and this this is what you are seeing in the community of Sowutuom”.

The road safety campaign asked drivers and road users to be responsible and encouraged them to, among other things, “Be Safe, Stay Alert, Don’t Speed, Buckle Up, Drive Smart, Don’t Smoke, Stay Sober and Take A Break”.

The drivers expressed their excitement and thanked Puma Energy for the initiative. They asked for more of such programmes to ensure that more drivers are educated.

Puma Energy Distribution Ghana Ltd. is part of a global oil and gas conglomerate operating in 47 countries.

The company operates over 70 retail stations across the country.