adidas apologises over All Blacks jersey pricing

Global sportswear giant adidas apologised to New Zealanders over its pricing arrangements for its Rugby World Cup replica All Black jersey.

In a public relations disaster, the German firm had been sticking to its high wholesale pricing for its new All Black jersey, which saw New Zealand retailers selling the item at around NZ$250.

By contrast, international (usually USA-based) online sports retailers had been selling the jerseys for for less than NZ$100 after currency conversion.

Revealed though a range of social media sites, the pricing led to complaints from from fans, politicians, retailers and former All Blacks. Public outrage also saw adidas delivery vehicles being vandalised.

Having instructed international online sports retailers to stop shipping the All Black jersey to New Zealand, adidas has finally relented, issueing an apology and saying sales would resume on all websites.

adidas New Zealand manager, David Huggett, told Newstalk ZB, "we understand that our people are annoyed about the two sites and we understand that there are dozens of other sites people can buy from.

"The last 11 days have been pretty tough and first of all I want to apologise to you and all the listeners for the distraction this topic has created and for what should really be a perfect build-up, leading into the Rugby World Cup."

Huggett suggested that we will "reconsider our strategy."

However, the company still refuses to lower its wholesale price, saying it believed the price was "absolutely fair and reasonable".

Huggett is understood to be hamstrung on the wholesale price given pricing dictated to him by adidas.

Public anger has also led to the cancellation of major promortional event 'Black is Beautiful' that had been set to feature New Zealand celebrities and sports stars.