Latvia's national football team limits media access, switches to black kits
After its first home match of the qualifying cycle, Latvia's national football team surprised journalists by restricting post-match interviews to three pre-selected players and by playing in black kits instead of its traditional maroon-white colors.
Following Latvia's national football team's home match on Monday, journalists were taken aback by a decision to limit access to players after the final whistle. The team's press officer, Iļja Poļakovs, informed reporters that only three pre-chosen players — Roberts Savaļnieks, Lūkass Vapne and Vladislavs Gutkovskis — would be made available for interviews, without explaining who made the call or why, saying only that it was a "joint team decision."
After briefly conferring, the journalists present decided to decline the offered format, and the three planned interviews did not take place. It later emerged that most players, and even several federation staff members, had not been aware of the decision. The federation president's assistant, Askolds Uldriķis, and the team's general manager, Roberts Mežeckis, tried to resolve the situation by offering journalists the choice of any player willing to talk, but the reporters turned down that revised offer as well.
The decision did not breach UEFA regulations, which allow national teams either to bring all players through a mixed zone or to guarantee interviews with three designated players — but Latvia's team had for years operated under the more open, first approach. It is suspected, though not confirmed, that the decision originated with head coach Paolo Nikolato, who has previously said football is not the top priority in Latvia.
Adding to the surprise, the team also departed from its traditional maroon-white colors, playing in kits that were almost entirely black. A team representative explained the shirts were a limited edition featuring the number 825 to mark Riga's anniversary, would not go on sale, and would only be used during this international window. In November, for matches around Latvia's national holidays, the team will return to its usual colors.
