T20 World Cup 2024: ICC stirs controversy by asking Uganda to change their jersey ahead of their historical debut

The mega cricket showdown is just around the corner but it seems like controversy has become a fan of hampering the true spirit of cricket. After the recent washout and infrastructure damage issues, yet another controversy has erupted ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024. Notably, Uganda will be another African nation who are going to make their much-awaited debut at the greatest stage. However, the apex cricketing body ICC (International Cricket Council) has stirred a controversy after it asked the spirited nation to make changes in their national jersey in the last hour.

The reason? ICC believes that the design of the jersey was hampering the visibility of the logos of the sponsors of the T20 World Cup. As a result, the governing body has forced Uganda to change the design for commercial reasons. Interestingly, the African nation conducted a competition where fans were asked to design the jersey for the marquee event. After the conclusion of the creative competition, three jerseys were shortlisted before they settled for the previous original jersey.

It is worth noting that the competition was won by a fan named, Elijah Mangeni, who designed Uganda's jersey after taking inspiration from the country's national bird aka a crowned grey Crane. However, the area around the shoulder sleeves was hindering the visibility of the logos of the sponsors. As a result, Uganda have trimmed some parts of the feather making it more transparent both in their upper jersey and the trouser.

In the same vein, the public relations officer of the Uganda Cricket Association (UCA) came forward to clarify the whole situation for cricket fans who were curious about the controversy in the social media domain. Musali Denis explained that due to lack of time, another new design would not have been possible, so Uganda decided to make some amends in the current jersey as per the ICC guidelines. Now Uganda have got the approval of the apex cricket governing body and moving ahead, UCA have unveiled the trimmed jersey through a ceremony before the players left for West Indies.

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"The ICC asked for a change in the design but we didn’t have enough time to make the required changes and had to compromise on the winning design. We lost just about 20 per cent of the original design, but the rest of the design is the same," Denis was quoted as saying by the cricket.com.au report.

Check out the changed jersey of Uganda here:

Uganda had staged a jersey design competition and this jersey (Image 1) was selected as the winner. The winning design from Elijah Mangeni drew inspiration from the country's national bird, the grey-crowned crane, after which the team is named.

However, ahead of the World Cup,… pic.twitter.com/o3Oy1bfME4

— Omkar Mankame (@Oam_16) May 28, 2024

Uganda will make their T20 World Cup debut against Afghanistan

Speaking of Uganda's historical moment, they recently qualified for the T20 World Cup 2024 after beating the regular-playing nation like Zimbabwe.

Also Read: T20 World Cup: Uganda unveil squad, including record 43-year-old Frank Nsubuga in the lineup

Consequently, the rising African nation booked their ticket to USA and West Indies. Now the new 'Men in Yellow' will start their debut T20 World Cup campaign against Afghanistan in Guyana, on June 3.