A football shirt for a Free Tibet

 There are national football teams that we struggle to define such, in this category include Catalonia, Padania and all those self-proclaimed selections represented by a state that is not internationally recognized. Among these, a separate discussion must be made on Tibet and its national football team. A land and a people battered by the cultural and military arrogance of China since the invasion of 1950 and today is trying to rebuild its collective identity even starting from football, representing the population of Tibet, much of which lives in exile (including the spiritual guide, the Dalai Lama). This is why we at nss sports could only be happy to receive the COPA press release with the uniforms of the Tibetan national football team.

The new Tibet home kit is based on the iconic Tibetan flag and the away kit is inspired by the typical colours as worn by monks and the Tibetan community. The Tibetan flag, also known as the "snow lion flag", it is the national flag of Tibet, adopted by the 13th Dalai Lama in 1916. Banned by the Chinese government since 1959, today the flag is used by the Tibetan Government in Exile, based in Dharamshala, India.

A decade ago while on a mountain biking trek in Tibet, the Dane Michael Nybrandt awoke one morning from a vivid dream in which he had starred as the coach of the Tibetan national side - a team which didn’t even exist at the time.
Taking this dream as a sign from above, Nybrandt pressed ahead and the support of the Dalia Lama was instrumental in the foundation of the Tibetan National Sports Association. Today Nybrandt still works within Tibetan sport and his original dream forms the basis for this association between the TNSA and COPA.

He could arrange a historic match between Tibet and Greenland 14 months later in Copenhagen with over 5,000 spectators. As a result the Tibetan National Sports Association was formed by Kasur Jetsun Pema, younger sister of H.H. the Dalai Lama. The TNSA continues the project, generating money for clubs and educating coaches and players. Today it is a flourishing sports organisation participating in several international matches, which organises a league tournament and runs an educational program for coaches and players in the Tibetan community

The complete Tibet National Team collection can be found online through copafootball.com, in the COPA Flagshipstore in Amsterdam and via selected resellers.