Morocco has asked German sportswear giant Adidas to cancel newly designed football tops for arch-rival Algeria accusing it of appropriating “Moroccan cultural heritage”, according to a lawyer’s letter seen Thursday.

Moroccan lawyer Mourad Elajouti, on behalf of the culture ministry, says that a geometrical design pattern known as “zellige”, common in Morocco’s multi-coloured ceramic mosaics, appears on the Algerian top.

In a letter sent to Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted, Elajouti demanded the withdrawal within two weeks of the Algerian sports top it claimed was “inspired by the art” of Moroccan zellige.

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