Asma Elbadawi is on billboards across the world as an ambassador of Adidas. In the widely plastered billboard, she dribbles a basketball, wearing a blue Cinderella-like tulle dress over a white Adidas sports top, white sports shoes and of course, wearing a hijab.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Asma Elbadawi | Sport Activist (@asmaelbadawi)
A post shared by Asma Elbadawi | Sport Activist (@asmaelbadawi)
Elbadawi is one of the many new diverse faces and ambassadors of Adidas. This also make her the first Sudanese to be an ambassador of Adidas. In Adidas’s ‘Impossible is Nothing’ campaign, she represents the possibility of playing and succeeding in sports as a hijabi or in any other form of religious headwear. She has been actively campaigning for equal play where both men and women of all faiths can play sports in their religious clothing. In the official promotional video, she says:
‘I’m Asma Elbadawi. I don’t just play ball. I’m the queen of ball. And I believe in equal play. When they tried to ban my hijab, I fought, I won, I kept wearing my crown. On my court, we all rise. My story is not impossible. Because I’m possible’
View this post on Instagram A post shared by adidas (@adidas)
A post shared by adidas (@adidas)
Elbawadi is one of the drivers of a social media campaign that successfully lobbied the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) to remove a ban on hijabs and religious headwear in the professional sport in order to create an even playing field for both men and women of all faiths such as Sikh’s Hindus and Muslims. The headgear ban was lifted in May 2017. A number of change.org petitions calling for a change to the rule garnered more than 137,000 signatures.
Based in the UK, Elbadawi is a visual artist, spoken word poet, basketball player and Coach. She was a Words First BBC1 Radio 1xtra Leeds Finalist in 2015. She received a master’s degree in visual art.
Elbadawi’s first appearance as an ambassador of Adidas came on 9 June 2021, promoting their new collection of adidas Swim performance wear, inclusive and sustainable, which launched on 10 June on adidas.com. While wearing Adidas’s new modest sportswear, she recites a poem that says:
‘We are the women who embrace the waters, immerse our entire bodies into the ocean. The waves glide over every inch of us never inquiring about our age, ethnicity, abilities, faiths, or the languages we speak to determine if we are worthy’
Adidas launched Impossible Is Nothing in April 2021. SEEING POSSIBILITIES – as told in bold, human films – is about rebellious optimism, rooted in the purpose from adidas in the power of sports to change lives.
Told in the documentary style of home footage, the series provides a previously unseen side to some of the most documented individuals in the world, enabled via a powerful narrative delivered by friends or fellow athletes, and animated via resurfaced footage from the archives.
The fully-integrated communication campaign shows the rich stable of adidas athletes past and present starting with the greatest of all time, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie, football icon David Beckham and NBA star Tracy McGrady, who challenge the impossible by taking risks, setting new records, changing conventions. The campaign features 22 athletes in total, from various sports and regions, showcasing adidas’ unrivaled broad involvement in sports and unique relationships with athletes.
The campaign also highlights women who are changing the game, including Elbawadi, volleyball player and activist Tiffany Abreu, skateboarder and Olympian Momiji Nishiya, actress and model HoYeon, and more.
For more on Asma Elbadawi, find her on Instagram @asmaelbadawi.
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