Alliance between music and sport with a social purpose
Recently, the iconic trip-hop group from Bristol, Massive Attack, and the Dublin football club Bohemian F.C. have unveiled their new collaboration. It is the design of the team's third kit for the 2026 FAI Cup. This alliance has a purely philanthropic goal: thirty percent of the profits generated by the sale of the jersey will go towards funding medical equipment and supplies for hospitals in Cuba.
The funds raised will be divided equally between two specific organizations: the Cuba Vive Medical Aid Appeal initiative, promoted by the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, and the mediCuba-Europe network. Both entities work actively to supply medical equipment and essential resources to the Caribbean island, which faces severe supply restrictions due to the international economic blockade.
Design details: historical and cultural symbolism
The aesthetics of the jersey have been developed jointly by the members of Massive Attack and the design team of Bohemian F.C., a sports club characterized by being entirely owned by its fans. The garment pays tribute to the historic Cuban national kits and the genealogical ties between Ireland and Cuba. The design features thick khaki and black stripes, a red V-neck, and a large white star in the center, known as La Estrella Solitaria, taken directly from the national flag of Cuba.
The fabric of the kit incorporates textual fragments from the anti-imperialist speech delivered by the revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara at the Afro-Asian Solidarity Conference held in Algiers in 1965. Additionally, the hem label includes the iconic two-tone image of Che Guevara created in 1968 by the Dublin artist Jim Fitzpatrick, who based it on the famous 'Guerrillero Heroico' photograph taken by Alberto Korda in Havana in 1960.
Nods to electronic music culture and Guevara's Irish ancestors are also deeply integrated into the apparel. On the back of the jersey, below the collar, is the unmistakable Massive Attack flame logo alongside a quote from Ernesto Guevara Lynch, the revolutionary's father, which reads: 'In my son's veins flowed the blood of Irish rebels'. Inside the collar, a ribbon reproduces the phrase 'Love is a doing word', taken from the acclaimed song 'Teardrop' released by the British band on their historic 1998 album 'Mezzanine'.
Our nominated charities organize urgent shipments of medical aid to Cuba, where vital hospital supplies are threatened by the blockade of the island, an illegal act of collective punishment against the Cuban people.
— Massive Attack
Audiovisual production and the impact of electronic activism
To accompany the launch, two audiovisual pieces have been produced by the Bristol-based production company Unit 3 Films. The first short documentary explores Guevara's speeches through football fan culture in nations that have resisted territorial or colonial conflicts, including Ireland, Palestine, Algeria, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The second video, set to the song 'Teardrop', intimately shows the creative process of artist Jim Fitzpatrick and the details of the new kit's texture.
Daniel Lambert, commercial director of Bohemian F.C., has publicly expressed the institution's pride after months of joint work with the Massive Attack team. This initiative continues the tradition of the club, based in the Phibsborough neighborhood in north Dublin, of partnering with figures from the music industry to launch messages of social awareness. In previous seasons, the sports entity has collaborated with artists such as Fontaines D.C., Kneecap, Bob Marley, and Annie Mac.
Massive Attack's involvement in this project reaffirms the role of activism within contemporary electronic music. The British group continues to use its global platform and sonic legacy to denounce embargo policies and tangibly support health systems in territories affected by international sanctions. By integrating the political history of Ireland and Cuba into a sports garment, the band demonstrates that club culture and international solidarity can converge effectively and generate a direct material impact.
