CBF President Samir Xaud says he ordered Nike to stop production of the red jersey.

247 - The president of the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation), Samir Xaud, stated that he ordered Nike to halt production of the Brazilian national team's red jersey. According to the official, the decision was not based on "political considerations," but rather on the continued symbolism of the national flag.

“I was totally against the red, but not because of political ideology, but because of the patriotism I have for the flag. Actually, it was in production, I had an urgent meeting with Nike, I asked that production be stopped and that I didn't want to lose this historical symbolism of ours. Just look, the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) symbol doesn't have red, there would be no reason to make a red shirt for our national team,” Xaud told Seleção Sportv.

“It was a delicate matter, but I'll even make a parenthesis here because many people took it to the political side. I didn't take it to the political side, I took it to the side of the colors of the Brazilian flag. I believe that blue, yellow, green and white are the colors of our flag and that they must be followed. I was totally against it, I asked them to stop, Nike complied with the request, they understood, I explained the reason to them, and they immediately started production of our second uniform, the blue one. It's really beautiful. There was no expense for the CBF. I didn't like (the red shirt),” he added.

There are two games left in the qualifiers. There are 18 matches in total. Initially, Brazil will face Chile on September 9th at the Maracanã (Rio de Janeiro). On September 14th, the Brazilian team will play away against Bolivia. The 2026 World Cup is expected to be held in three countries - the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Here is the World Cup Qualifying standings for the South American national teams:

1st place: Argentina - 35 points, 16 games, 11 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses, goal difference +19

2nd place: Ecuador - 25 points, 16 games, 7 wins, 7 draws, 2 losses, goal difference +8

3rd place: Brazil - 25 points, 16 games, 7 wins, 4 draws, 5 losses, goal difference +5

4th place: Uruguay - 24 points, 16 games, 6 wins, 6 draws, 4 losses, goal difference +7

5th place: Paraguay - 24 points, 16 games, 6 wins, 6 draws, 4 losses, goal difference +3

6th place: Colombia - 22 points, 16 games, 5 wins, 7 draws, 4 losses, goal difference +4

7th place: Venezuela -18 points, 16 games, 4 wins, 6 draws, 6 losses, goal difference -4

8th place: Bolivia -17 points, 16 games, 5 wins, 2 draws, 9 losses, goal difference -16

9th place: Peru -12 points, 16 games, 2 wins, 6 draws, 8 losses, goal difference -11

10th place: Chile -10 points, 16 games, 2 wins, 4 draws, 10 losses, goal difference -15