KUALA LUMPUR: Adidas has apologized for any distress caused by featuring Palestinian supermodel Bella Hadid in advertisements for its relaunched 1972 Munich Olympic sneaker.

Adidas, known for its athletic footwear, selected Hadid as the face of its SL72 campaign to mark the 52nd anniversary of the Munich Olympics by reintroducing the iconic sneaker from the 1970s.

The 1972 Munich Olympics were tragically marked by a terrorist attack in which 11 Israeli athletes and one German police officer were killed by a Palestinian militant group amidst the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hadid, whose father is Palestinian, proudly identifies as "a proud Palestinian." She actively supports Palestine and uses her platform to advocate for Palestinians affected by the conflict. Last year, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

“We are conscious that connections have been made to tragic historical events — though these are completely unintentional — and we apologize for any upset or distress caused,” Adidas stated to USA TODAY Sports. “As a result, we are revising the remainder of the campaign. We believe in sport as a unifying force around the world and will continue our efforts to champion diversity and equality in everything we do.”

The SL72 campaign featured Bella Hadid in Adidas attire, holding flowers and showcasing the sneakers. Following the apology and a commitment to revise the campaign, all tweets featuring Hadid were removed from Adidas Originals' X account and Instagram. However, as of yesterday afternoon, Hadid remained featured on Adidas' website.

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) called on Adidas to address what they termed an 'egregious error’. "At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, 12 Israelis were murdered and taken hostage by Palestinian terrorist group Black September. For Adidas to pick a vocal anti-Israel model to recall this dark Olympics is either a massive oversight or intentionally inflammatory. Neither is acceptable," the AJC posted on X yesterday.

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