French Open 'Merci Rafa' T-shirts resurface online at sky-high prices

Monday, 26 May 2025 15:28

By Reuters

French Open organisers handed out 10,000 brick-red T-shirts for Sunday's tribute to 14-times Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal on Monday and while most people took the souvenir home, several tried to sell them online for up to 500 euros (AED 2,089).

The "Merci Rafa" T-shirts turned the stands into a living canvas, while high in the upper tiers, fans in white shirts formed a mosaic: "RAFA" flanked by hearts and the characters "14 RG".

T-shirts were up for sale on Monday morning with prices ranging from 150 euros (AED 626) to 500 euros (AED 2,089), to the disappointment of the French tennis federation (FFT).

"That some people are taking the opportunity to make money off the 'Merci Rafa' T-shirt, I find that a bit deplorable, but we weren’t going to take the T-shirt back in the end," FFT president Gilles Moretton told reporters.

"We did something unique, and with uniqueness sometimes comes this kind of drift. I saw some prices that scared me."

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