Getup Stand-down: Bohemians forced to withdraw Bob Marley-inspired jersey from sale

Bohemians have been forced to withdraw their planned Bob Marley-inspired away kit from the market following consultation with the estate of the legendary musician.

The club last month unveiled a radical new design for their white away kit featuring lining in the red, gold and green colours synonymous with rastafarianism and a likeness of Marley.

Bohemians believed they had gone through the correct channels to licence an image resembling Marley but, after contact from his representative agency, the club reluctantly changed course.

They have released an alternative version of the design that sees the singer's image replaced by a clenched fist – a universal symbol of solidarity.

Bohs had sold in excess of 1,000 of the old design and have contacted customers with the option of a refund, a credit note or the newly-designed jersey.

 

10% of proceeds from the sales of the new kit will now be placed into a fund, already in operation and funded by fans, to bring people living in Direct Provision to games at Dalymount Park.

A club statement read: “The Bohemian Football Club was recently contacted by the Bob Marley representative agency in connection with our away jersey for the 2019 season, which featured an image of Bob Marley.

“Bohemian Football Club acted in good faith and followed the correct process when purchasing the licence for this image via a world-leading third-party photo licensing company.



“However, the Bob Marley representative agency has informed us that this company did not have the right to grant any such licence for this image. We are dealing with this separately.

“SubsequeNtly, following direct correspondence with the Bob Marley representative agency, they cannot license the image to the Bohemian Football Club due to their own contractual and other obligations.

“Consequently, we can no longer supply the jersey with the image of Bob Marley as advertised.”

Lucky Khambule, coordinator of Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, said: “MASI warmly welcomes this initiative by the Bohemian Football Club.

“Bohemians have been assisting MASI and bringing people in Direct Provision to games for several years and are very proactive on numerous other social issues too.

“We hope the jersey is a huge success and allows for many more trips to Dalymount Park in 2019 for those affected by Direct Provision.”



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