Saudi Arabia bans Kappa sportswear for "offensive" logo

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has officially banned the importation and sale of products from the Italian sportswear company Kappa because of its logo which they claim is "offensive," "pornographic," "immoral" and "incompatible" with Saudi values.

Speaking at a press conference in Riyadh today, Saudi Minister of Sport Affairs Shaikh Saad bin Mohammed al Saadi had this to say concerning the ban:

"I was looking up sporting equipment on the internet a couple of days ago and I just happened to stumble upon the Kappa logo on a popular sporting goods website. I zoomed in on the logo and lo! and behold what did you think I saw? It was the very offensive, pornographic and immoral image which features the nude silhouettes of a man and a woman sitting down with their backs touching each other. What was even worse was when I further observed that on the image of the logo the outline of the woman's breast could be clearly seen."

He continued:

"My heart almost exploded in my chest. How on earth was this site not censored? This is clearly incompatible with Saudi values. I spoke to King Salman and he told me that this is a very critical situation because he isn't aware of how many people in the country own Kappa sportswear. That said, we both agreed that sales of such offensive goods must not continue. So he instructed the Morality Police and the Royal Saudi Arabian Armed Forces via an edict to thoroughly search every sports retail store; seize all Kappa products and arrest and charge anyone who is caught selling or buying them. He also cautioned the public that their homes will be searched for Kappa goods and if they are found to be in possession of the offensive material they too will also be arrested and charged. So it would be in their best interest if they destroy them by burning."

Al Saadi ended the press conference by saying:

"Saudi Customs Officials are also instructed to thoroughly search all barrels coming into the ports in the Kingdom for Kappa products and to arrest and charge all parties found in violation of the Kingdom's morality laws. Never must our morally upright Kingdom be negatively influenced by the morally-corrupt West."