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Liverpool and Manchester United’s Premier League game on Sunday sparked “hundreds” of complaints from supporters affected by color blindness, with United’s green stripe proving indistinguishable from Liverpool’s traditional red shirts.
Despite using a white and black change kit for the majority of games this season when their red shirts clash with the home side, United wore an outfit described by kit supplier Adidas as “the legend of the land. green “for the 0-0 draw at Anfield.
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And with many viewers unable to tell the two teams apart, UK organization Color Blind Awareness saw its Twitter account, @colourblindorg, inundated with fans struggling to watch the game.
“It happens all the time; we’ve had a bad year this year,” Kathryn Albany-Ward, CEO of Color Blind Awareness, told ESPN. “We’ve had Southampton against Sheffield United and recently Liverpool against Man United. We’ve had a lot.
“But Sunday was the most kit clash complaints we’ve ever had. We’ve had hundreds of them and spent the whole morning trying to bring them all together.
“It’s a very common problem, and it’s a big problem because of the number of people affected. It affects 1 in 12 people.”
Sources have told ESPN that the Premier League uses computer software to ensure all matches are played with clubs wearing identifiable different colors. The software was recently updated to include a “Colorblind Friendly Flag” to determine the best kit combinations for people who are color blind.
In 2015, the NFL issued a statement pledging to improve its knowledge of color blind fans after hundreds of complaints following a “Color Rush” game between the all-red Buffalo Bills and all-green New York Jets. . Albany-Ward is calling for a similar move in English football.
“The NFL game was played and it was a red kit versus a green kit and all of America that is color blind stood up,” Albany-Ward said. “That’s about 14 million color blind.
“The NFL had to change their dress regulations to make sure this didn’t happen again.
“I think they have to stand up to a large extent in the UK. People are aware of that, but they don’t keep the information long enough to do anything.
“If a great broadcaster were to tackle that and present what it’s like to be color blind and watch a game to the right people. I think it would be great.
“The Premier League is taking action, and they are keeping the clubs informed, because they know when these clashes will take place. I know because I was in contact with them today.
“They informed United about this problem and United suggested a solution, but what they decided was not enough.”
Sources told ESPN that United were made aware of a Premier League kit issue 10 days before the Liverpool game, but only asked to change the socks from green to white.
To make matters worse for United, who have already changed an all-gray kit at half-time in a game at Southampton due to manager Sir Alex Ferguson complaining about his players’ inability to see each other, midfielder Bruno Fernandes is currently an ambassador for color blindness. awareness in Portugal
“As part of our European project, the Portuguese federation has two ambassadors; one is Bruno Fernandes, but I don’t think he is aware of this clash between the kits,” Albany-Ward said. “The other is Jessica Silva, who plays for Olympique Lyonnais.
“They are aware of the problems this can cause, and they want to raise the profile of it, which they did in September on Color Blind Awareness Day.”
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