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The South African Football Association (SAFA) and French sportswear giant Le Coq Sportif have announced the end of their five-year partnership. The collaboration, which began in 2020, will officially conclude in December 2025 after a series of historic achievements for South African football.
What Happened?
SAFA confirmed that its long-standing partnership with Le Coq Sportif, which predated the COVID-19 pandemic, will conclude at the end of the year. The collaboration produced some of South Africa’s most memorable moments, including Banyana Banyana’s 2022 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations victory and their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualification.
The special-edition black kit, worn by Banyana Banyana during the World Cup, raised awareness about gender-based violence. It became a symbol of strength as the team reached the FIFA tournament’s Round of 16 — a first in history.
In 2024, Bafana Bafana’s silver kit, worn during their bronze-medal finish at the Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire. Meanwhile, the pink kit used against England highlighted breast cancer awareness under the Pink Drive campaign.
Official Response
SAFA CEO Lydia Monyepao praised the collaboration’s achievements:
“Our relationship started with many challenges but inspired a lot of on-field success for all our national teams, specifically Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana. We thank Le Coq Sportif for the partnership and wish them well in their future endeavours.”
Le Coq Sportif South Africa Director Ernst van den Berg revealed how good it was to work with South African. Full of pride and ambition, they achieved a lot with Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana.
Community Impact
The partnership left a strong social, which gave South African designer Lwazi Cedrick Ngcungama the opportunity to design the national jersey, showcased the spirit of local creativity and empowerment.
Fans celebrated the collaboration for merging performance, pride, and purpose. As SAFA prepares for a new era, supporters are eager to see which brand will take over the national teams’ jerseys next year.
