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Champions League club appear to play in special kit in order to comply with fussy Uefa rule
Designers Nike had to make the alteration to avoid a rule breach
SPORTING LISBON were forced to make a subtle change to their kit for their Champions League opener to comply with Uefa rules.
The Portuguese champions played host to Lille on Tuesday night as they returned to Europe's premier competition after one year away.
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And they kicked things off in style with a comfortable 2-0 win - which included a stunner from defender Zeno Debast.
Former Coventry striker Viktor Gyokeres also got on the scoresheet for the hosts.
It was the first of Sporting's eight fixtures in the new-look Champions League.
The others will come against PSV, Sturm Graz, Manchester City, Arsenal, Club Brugge, RB Leipzig and Bologna.
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However, the strip Sporting wear in domestic competitions has been altered for European matches.
That is because Uefa rules dictate that if a shirt has three or more colours, one must be ";clearly dominant".
Sporting's shirt contains white, green and black stripes.
But in order to ensure one was the focal point of the shirt, one of the white stripes near the bottom of the jersey was changed to black by designers Nike.
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This meant the black dominated the shirt, meaning the kit did not break any Uefa regulations.
It is expected they will have to do the same for their remaining games when they wear their home strip.
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