Bohs get dreaded call
Bob Marley’s estate stops Dublin club’s tribute jersey two weeks after launch
BOHEMIANS FC fans have been left waiting in vain for a special Bob Marley version of the soccer club’s kit.
Less than two weeks after the Dublin club stirred it up by launching a strip with the reggae legend’s image, Bohemians have been forced to scrap it after the late singer’s estate intervened.
News about the kit, which was designed to celebrate the singer’s concert at Bohs’ Dalymount Park home ground in 1980, just a year before his death, went viral last month. However, the tribute to the Rastafarian legend has gone awry, as the club announced yesterday that it no longer has permission to use the image of Marley.
The club said it will, however, relaunch the kit, substituting the image of the singer with a clenched fist.
Anyone who bought one of the Marley jerseys, which were made available for pre-order last week, is being offered a replacement or a refund.
The club said yesterday: ‘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.’
The clenched-fist featured in the redesign is a ‘symbol of solidarity and support used to express unity, strength and resistance’.
The club added: ‘We greatly regret that we cannot offer the original jersey as designed but believe that the new design... also brings with it a powerful message.’