UK Athletics will switch its kit deal from Adidas to Nike next year after a Dutch court rejected a claim from its current partner, according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Adidas, which has supplied kit for Britain’s track and field athletes since 2005, took UK Athletics to court in the Netherlands last month, claiming that its current contract included a “matching rights” clause that gave it the right to match any rival offer when the deal came up for renewal.
However, the court is understood to have rejected Adidas’ claim, allowing UK Athletics to sign a new deal with Nike that is due to run for four years, from 2014 to 2017.
An Adidas spokesman said: “Obviously we had a relationship with UK Athletics and we’re disappointed that the court decision did not go our way. We would love to have reached the point where we could continue the partnership.”
However, leading Nike endorsers such as Mo Farah, Dai Greene, Perri Shakes-Drayton, Adam Gemili and Holly Bleasdale will still have to wear Adidas kit at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
This is because Adidas in November 2011 signed up as the first Tier One sponsor of the British Olympic Association for the 2013-16 cycle, extending a partnership that has run for nearly three decades.