Women's Sizes Not Available As Nike Releases New NZ Football Kits

Female football fans seeking supporters jerseys ahead of the Football Ferns' match against Japan in June "could be out of luck," according to Ben Strang of STUFF. Nike released new jerseys for the men's and women's national teams last week, but "when they went on sale on Saturday no women's sizes were available." The company has since confirmed that "no women's sizes have been produced," but New Zealand Football vowed to "talk to Nike about making women's sizes available." A Māori fern design is a main feature of the new jerseys, which are said to represent "strength, resistance and power." NZ Football has "trumpeted equality" in the organization by announcing equal working conditions for the men's and women's sides, but its kit supplier has not "followed suit." A "lack of equality was also evident" in Nike's promotion of the new kit, with Chris Wood, Kosta Barbarouses and Myer Bevan joining a lone woman, Hannah Wilkinson, in promotional shots of the shirts (STUFF, 5/22).