The T-shirt which has enraged fight fans by wiping Northern Ireland off the map

The T-shirt which has enraged fight fans by wiping Northern Ireland off the map

Reebok has been forced to apologise to fight fans after releasing a T-shirt to promote a Dublin event which features a map of Ireland - with Northern Ireland missing.

Fans of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Ireland reacted angrily to the image and took to Twitter to express their outrage over the grey and green top.

A spokesperson for Reebok blamed a "design error in the global product development team" and moved quickly to remove it from the online stock.

The sports clothing company posted on Twitter: "We sincerely apologise for the offence caused by the UFC Ireland T-shirt. This was a design error and has now been removed."

SBG (Straight Blast Gym) Ireland head coach John Kavanagh - who signed a partnership with Reebok this week - spoke out against the design on Twitter and threatened to withdraw his partnership with the brand.

Calling it an "incredibly insensitive, stupid, divisive idea" the sports coach added that the tag line 'show your territorial allegiance' caused further offence among fans.

Belfast Telegraph