Man City Did Not Wear Emirates FA Cup Badge - Here's Why
In yesterday's FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Manchester City, we observed a small inconsistency with City's kits. Rather than having the regular FA Cup badge on their sleeves, they opted to keep this area empty.
This was likely not a mistake or oversight by the club, but has been done by them in the FA Cup for years.
Manchester City Play Without FA Cup Badge
Manchester City's main shirt sponsor is of course Etihad Airways, who are situated in the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, the FA Cup is sponsored by the airline Emirates, who also sit in the UAE.
Emirates have the naming rights, which means the competition is called 'Emirates FA Cup'. That is why the logo and subsequent sleeve patch feature the Emirates logo in the branding.
Wearing both airlines on a kit can be likened to wearing the logos of both Mercedes and BMW or Coca-Cola and Pepsi on the same shirt. No brand would want to be seen sharing advertising space with a rival company from the same industry.
Keen-eyed viewers would have noticed that for several years City have not been wearing the Emirates FA Cup sleeve patch. It seems the club have been permitted to do so, since they would otherwise be promoting a rival brand.
In fact, in 2019, the Sky Blues wore a special version of their sponsor logo, which displayed the message 'Choose Etihad'. Perhaps this was a cheeky jab at their rivals, Emirates.
What do you think of this situation? Comment below.
