AFC AJAX, one of the largest clubs in European football, have been banned by UEFA from sporting their Bob Marley-inspired shirt as it shows illegal imagery according to their rules.

The Dutch giants wore their special Jamaican icon motivated kit for the first time in Saturday’s 2-0 league success at PEC Zwolle.

UEFA claim that the shirt, which was released last month when the club stated that they would predominantly wear it in European fixtures this season, contains imagery that goes against the federation’s regulations.

The European governing body has ruled that the shirt had been changed from the design, which was initially revealed in May.

Yet Ajax’s original black kit, which was initially approved by UEFA, featured the sponsored adidas trademark of three stripes with the Rastafarian colours (red, gold and green) around the shoulders as well as three little birds stitched on the back just below the collar.

But these trio of birds in red, gold and green did not feature on Ajax’s third-choice strip, developed and designed in collaboration with the Jamaica-based Bob Marley group of companies, against PEC Zwolle.

The football club revealed in a statement today (September 13): ”The European Football Association [UEFA] sees it as a different expression than the club logo, logo clothing sponsor or sleeve sponsor. Other expressions are not allowed.”

Ajax only adopted Marley’s classic 1977 song of Three Little Birds as their unofficial anthem for home matches in Amsterdam, following a pre-season friendly against Welsh team Cardiff City in 2008. The tune has being blasted out at their stadium of the Johan Cryuff Arena ever since.