CNA – The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) unveiled a “fiercer-looking” design for the country’s official Paris Games attire on Tuesday, July 2.
The revamped design features more prominent tiger stripes in black and yellow on both sides of the jacket, following “mixed feedback” on the previous tiger motif, which was deemed insufficiently striking, said OCM president Mohamad Norza Zakaria in a media statement.
Additional changes include the OCM logo, now showcasing a fluttering Malaysian national flag accompanied by the five Olympic rings, replacing the previous gold emblem.
Yonex Sunrise Malaysia, the official attire sponsor for the Malaysian contingent for the past decade, granted special permission to print and produce the jackets using different manufacturer fabrics.
The omission of the Yonex or YY logo, which was excluded due to time constraints, was also permitted, noted Mohamad Norza.
These improvements come after the original design faced criticism for being “cheap-looking,” “ugly,” uninspired, and outdated.
The full line, including tracksuits, polo shirts, and T-shirts, was unveiled on June 23 using mannequins, which further sparked discontent among some sports fans.
Footage of the ceremony, held at an upscale mall in Kuala Lumpur, showed the mannequins initially wrapped in black cloth, which was later removed following a countdown, accompanied by celebratory music and a smattering of applause.
A Facebook post about the event by the council attracted numerous negative comments, with some describing the look as “extremely shameful” and “hideous.”
An OCM official later acknowledged that using mannequins to showcase the kits was a mistake.
In response to the backlash, the council announced on June 28 that it would enhance the widely-criticised design to better highlight the tiger motif on the jackets and revise the council’s logo to more accurately reflect the Malaysian flag.
Regarding the gold-collared T-shirt, Mohamad Norza stated that the same design and motif would be retained, but with the OCM logo changed to the colours of the Malaysian national flag as “a mark of respect.”
“OCM believes that this new design symbolises the tiger spirit, which has become the identity of the Malaysian contingent since it was first introduced at the Southeast Asian Games in Manila in 2005. It is the hope of OCM that the tiger spirit will inspire the national athletes to roar in the city of Paris,” he said.
