Mark Van Bommel, Clarence Seedorf and Luca Antonini

See below for the official release:

Somewhere between innovation and tradition, true to the style of adidas and AC Milan – for the 2011/12 jersey, the three-stripe label has decided to combine its most innovative technology with a design reminiscent of the Rossoneri strips of the early twentieth century.

The launch, too, was structured along the same lines – journalists from the traditional media and bloggers gathered at adidas Italy’s Brand Center in Monza but Milan fans from across Italy and the world were also able to attend the unveiling of the new strip and to ask the guests in attendance questions by means of live streaming at adidas.com.

Guests at the event

• Adriano Galliani – CEO and Vice President of AC Milan
• Salem Obaidalla, – Senior Vice President Commercial Operations (Europe and Russian Federation) of Emirates
• Jean Michel Granier – CEO of adidas Italy

The star models of the new kit were Rossoneri players Clarence Seedorf, Mark Van Bommel and Luca Antonini.  The event was hosted by familiar television personality, and avid AC Milan fan, Daniele Bossari.  The strip will be worn for the first time on May 15th for the penultimate game of the league against Cagliari.

Design of the strip

AC Milan Jersey

• Reverting once again to the thinner 2cm-wide stripes compared to the 9cm-wide ones of last year
• There are 21 stripes in total, 11 of which are black and 10 red
• The white crew neck stands out with three stripes on the sleeves, which are white for the first time, on a red inset
• The back of the collar bears the words “Associazione Calcio Milan” underneath the Italian flag to highlight the fact that Milan is one of the best-known symbols of Italy around the world
• Reference to the colors of the Italian flag can be found on the insets at the sides on the front of the shirt as well as on the shorts
  and socks

Technology:

Next season, AC Milan players will be able to choose whether to wear the TECHFIT(tm) PowerWEB uniform as a single layer or
whether to wear the base layers under the FORMOTION(tm) uniform, which has a traditional fit.

TECHFIT(tm) PowerWEB is the most innovative technology used for sportswear. Thanks to the use of special compression fabrics and the application of TPU strips at specific areas of the body, the TECHFIT(tm) layers are able to concentrate muscular energy to the maximum to give the athlete explosive power, acceleration and resistance, whilst reducing muscle vibration, improving the athlete’s posture, the feel of their body and level of core stability in order to guarantee not just any performance but record-breaking performance.  Worn all together (shirt, shorts and socks), the TECHFIT(tm) PowerWEB kit is able to increase players’ power by 5.3%*, their jump height by 4%*, their sprinting speed by 1.1%* and their efficiency by 0.8%*.   adidas TECHFIT(tm) PowerWEB kits, worn as a single layer, are 45% lighter than the classic two-piece kit worn together.

The ForMotion(tm) strip sees the use of three-dimensional and elastic fabrics which adapt perfectly to the body of the player and subsequently improve the fit of the
strip in order to optimize movement, comfort and increase freedom of action.  The addition of adidas ClimaCool(tm) and adidas FlowMapping(tm) ensures optimum breathability and helps the Rossoneri players to maintain an ideal body temperature, even under pressure.

adidas is the leading brand in world football and provides the official ball for all major tournaments organised by UEFA, FIFA and the IOC. The partnership between adidas and AC Milan is one of the most solid and long-lasting relationships – having begun in 1998, it has been renewed up until 2017 with an extension to the rights as
Master licensee. A new feature is to be added to the many synergies already in place, from the Milan Junior Camp to the activities which help to make Fondazione Milan projects a reality.

America’s leading soccer media brand will showcase these clubs through important live matches that carry domestic league title implications as well as archived, classic matches that highlight European soccer’s most storied, successful clubs and most intense rivalries. The aforementioned clubs have combined to win 166 domestic, top-flight league titles and 32 European Cups (UEFA Champions League titles).

“Clash of the Giants” week will also feature ten of the world’s 12 most valuable soccer clubs, totaling a combined net worth of over $9 billion and generating over $3.7 billion in revenue through the 2009-10 season.

Three of soccer’s grandest club rivalries take center stage during “Clash of the Giants” week as Chelsea hosts Manchester United on Tuesday, March 1, Juventus hosts AC Milan in the Serie A on Saturday, March 5, and Liverpool hosts Manchester United on Sunday, March 6. FOX Soccer’s Super Sunday + will preview and recap Liverpool-Manchester United on Sunday at 8:00 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. ET.

Manchester United-Liverpool is the most storied rivalry in English soccer as both clubs have won an English record 18 top-flight, domestic titles. Liverpool’s five European Championships are most among English teams, with Manchester United having won three. Premier League leader Manchester United, which has won 11 of the first 18 Premier League titles since it was created in 1992, has remarkably lost only twice over all competitions in the 2010-11 campaign.

Earlier in “Clash of the Giants” week, Manchester United travels to reigning Premier League champion Chelsea on Tuesday, March 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET in the latest edition of their burgeoning rivalry that has seen the clubs split the past six Premier League titles. A special edition of FOX Soccer Match Day will preview and analyze this titanic clash at 2 p.m. ET.

Arsenal, currently second in the Premier League, also features prominently on FOX Soccer Channel’s live schedule. It hosts a fifth-round FA Cup replay against Leyton Orient – which kept this tie alive with a thrilling 89th-minute goal last weekend – on Wednesday, March 2, with a view towards creating another tantalizing clash with Manchester United in the FA Cup quarterfinals. Arsenal then faces Sunderland to kick off a Premier League doubleheader on Saturday, March 5.

Serie A leader AC Milan begins “Clash of the Giants” week on FOX Soccer Channel by hosting Napoli, second place in Serie A, at the San Siro.

Archived Manchester United matches to air during this week include its 2001 Charity Shield meeting with Liverpool, its decisive Champions League Round-of-16 showdown with AC Milan from March 10, 2010, its 2004 Community Shield grudge match against Arsenal, and a 1996 fifth-round FA Cup derby with Manchester City. Other archived matches featuring England’s big four clubs includes Liverpool vs. Arsenal from Aug. 15, Chelsea vs. Arsenal from Oct. 3, and the 2002 FA Cup final between Chelsea and Arsenal.

Barcelona, the consensus best club in the world at present, and Real Madrid, considered the best club of all-time, will be showcased through FOX Soccer’s UEFA Champions League archives in March’s first week. FOX Soccer Channel will air Barcelona’s 2010 Champions League semifinal with Inter Milan and a 2009 group stage match between Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Not only did Inter Milan beat Barcelona in last year’s Champions League semifinal on the way to capturing last year’s European Cup, but it also won Serie A in 2010. Its derby match with AC Milan from Jan. 24, 2010 is a featured, classic match that revives the thrill behind its title run.

In an exciting twist, FOX Soccer will also empower soccer fans at home to direct its “Clash of the Giants” week programming through the “Clash of the Giants: Viewer’s Choice Match” poll at www.foxsoccer.com. Beginning Sunday, Feb. 27, fans can go online and vote to watch one of the following matches on FOX Soccer Channel on Friday, March 4 at 8 p.m. ET – the Chelsea-Liverpool Premier League match from Feb. 6, 2011, the 1971 FA Cup final between Arsenal and Liverpool, and the 1994 FA Cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea.

For a complete list of FOX Soccer’s match programming during “Clash of the Giants” week (Feb. 28-March 6), please see below or visit www.foxsoccer.com.

FOX Soccer’s “Clash of the Giants” Week Live Television Schedule (Feb. 28-March 6):

Home team listed first; all times Eastern (subject to change).

• Monday, February 28
  • Italian Serie A – AC Milan vs. Napoli, 2:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, March 1
  • English Premier League – Chelsea vs. Manchester United, 2:30 p.m.
  • CONCACAF Champions League (Quarterfinal, 2nd leg) – Real Salt Lake vs. Columbus Crew, 10 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 2
  • FA Cup (fifth round replay) – Arsenal vs. Leyton Orient, 2:30 p.m.
• Saturday, March 5
  • English Premier League – Arsenal vs. Sunderland, 10:00 a.m.
  • English Premier League – Manchester City vs. Wigan, 12:30 p.m.
  • Italian Serie A – Juventus vs. AC Milan, 2:30 p.m.
• Sunday, March 6
  • English Premier League – Liverpool vs. Manchester United, 8:30 a.m.
  • English Premier League – Wolverhampton vs. Tottenham, 11:00 a.m.
  • Italian Serie A – Lazio vs. Palermo, 2:30 p.m.
  • Italian Serie A – Inter Milan vs. Genoa, 5:00 p.m. (same day delay)

“Clash of the Giants” week archived matches from the FOX Soccer library:

• English Premier League
  • Thursday, March 3 – Tottenham vs. Chelsea (April 17, 2010), 3:00 p.m.
  • Thursday, March 3 – Chelsea vs. Arsenal (Oct. 3, 2010), 8:00 p.m.
  • Friday, March 4 – Liverpool vs. Arsenal (Aug. 15, 2010), 3:00 p.m.
• Italian Serie A
  • Thursday, March 3 – Inter Milan vs. AC Milan (Jan. 24, 2010), 1:00 p.m.
  • Friday, March 4 – Roma vs. Inter Milan (Sept. 25, 2010), 1:00 p.m.
• UEFA Champions League
  • Monday, Feb. 28 – Lyon vs. Bordeaux (March 30, 2010), 5:00 p.m.
  • Tuesday, March 1 – Real Madrid vs. AC Milan (Oct. 21, 2009), 5:00 p.m.
  • Wednesday, March 2 – Manchester United vs. AC Milan (March 10, 2010), 5:00 p.m.
  • Thursday, March 3 – FC Barcelona vs. Inter Milan (April 28, 2010), 5:00 p.m.
• FA Archives
  • Wednesday, March 2 – Manchester United vs. Manchester City (FA Cup 5th Round; Feb. 18, 1996), 11:00 p.m.
  • Thursday, March 3 – Arsenal vs. Manchester United (Community Shield; Aug. 8, 2004), 11:00 p.m.
  • Friday, March 4 – Arsenal vs. Chelsea (FA Cup final; May 4, 2002), 11:00 p.m.
  • Saturday, March 5 – Liverpool vs. Manchester United (Charity Shield; Aug. 12, 2001), 11:00 p.m.
• “Clash of the Giants: Viewer’s Choice Match”
  • Friday, March 4 – Match TBD (by poll participants on Foxsoccer.com), 8 p.m.

###

About FOX Soccer

FOX Soccer, part of the FOX Sports Media Group, offers the most comprehensive multi-media coverage of world-class soccer available in the United States. Encompassing FOX Soccer Channel, FOX Soccer Plus, FOXsoccer.com and FOXsoccer.tv, the network serves as the primary television and online destination in the U.S. for elite club competitions including England’s Barclays Premier League and the UEFA Champions League. Matches from Italy’s Serie A, Women’s Professional Soccer, and the Australian Hyundai A-League are also featured prominently, in addition to such global tournaments as the English FA Cup, CONCACAF Champions League™ and CONCACAF Gold Cup. Flagship FOX Soccer Channel is Nielsen-rated and available to service providers in high-definition, reaching more than 38 million cable and satellite households nationwide. FOX Soccer Plus is a premium network complementing FOX Soccer Channel by providing the best international sports experience in high-definition. In addition to live, exclusive soccer matches from the best leagues in the world, FOX Soccer Plus also delivers premium rugby from the Magners League, Aviva Premiership and Heineken Cup among other competitions. Live match coverage is also available online via premium broadband service FOXsoccer.tv, and for fans on-the-go, via the new FOX Soccer iPhone app. For more information – as well as news, features, analysis stats and more – visit one of America’s most-trafficked online soccer destinations at FOXsoccer.com, and the network’s Facebook page and Twitter feed (@FOXSoccer).

“Soccer fans know that each national league has something unique and exciting to offer, and AC Milan undoubtedly delivers the best of Italian club fútbol,” said Rodrigo Lombello, COO of GolTV. “As the sport continues to grow in popularity in the U.S., GolTV remains the go-to network for the soccer viewer with the widest range of league programming and most up-to-the-minute soccer news coverage.”

GolTV will take viewers further into the action with more AC Milan programming every Thursday evening beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET. First, the half-hour show AC Milan Classics will bring viewers up to speed on the past week in AC Milan match play. Then GolTV will deliver the in-depth magazine show, AC Milan Weekly, at 6:30 p.m. ET featuring 30 minutes of news and updates on Italian Serie A soccer.

“GolTV is a fantastic partner capable of enhancing the visibility of AC Milan, the most successful club in the world,” said Carlo Pozzali, CEO of MP & Silva America. “Soccer is developing dramatically in U.S. and through additional exposure on GolTV we’ll offer all fans a comprehensive, unmatched range of programming.”

This coverage of the best of the Italian Serie A league joins the ranks of GolTV’s premium line-up, which includes over 250 matches from action-packed tournaments and top international soccer leagues such as Germany’s Bundesliga, Spain’s La Liga and Brazil’s Campeonato Brasileiro and Campeonato Paulista in high definition and premium sound.

More information and current programming schedules are available online at www.goltv.tv.

###

About GolTV

GolTV delivers live and prime time coverage of the world’s highest level of professional soccer. Founded in 2003 and led by Chief Executive Officer and former international fútbol superstar, Enzo Francescoli, GolTV is the country’s only independently-owned bilingual soccer network and the first channel conceived and operated by professional athletes. GolTV is the original all-soccer channel with unsurpassed exclusive TV rights, featuring over 6,000 hours of pure soccer action and a diverse mix of soccer programming, including the country’s only weeknight soccer news program, GolTV News. GolTV is one of the country’s most popular networks among Hispanic viewers as well as marketers targeting all U.S. soccer fans. The company recently launched GolTV Móvil, offering mobile phone subscribers exclusive news, updates, scores and video of their favorite teams, leagues and tournaments on the go. For more information, visit www.goltv.tv.