M.I.A has taken to Twitter to reveal that French football club Paris St Germain, owned by a Qatari sovereign wealth fund, recently sent her a legal letter raising objections about her use of a modified PSG strip in the video for her new single “Borders”. 

The lawyers at PSG are angry that the white shirt M.I.A is seen wearing in the refugee-inspired video has the words “Fly Pirates” written across it, rather than “Fly Emirates” (their official sponsor).  They're demanding that any footage of M.I.A wearing the modified shirt be removed immediately, as well as for compensation for “the harm we have suffered”. M.I.A has come out in combative mood, retweeting comments suggesting this is a “bad PR move” and pinning their legal threat to the top page of her Twitter (followers: 661k).

M.I.A, real name Maya Arulpragasam, herself fled violence in Sri Lanka and has been a long-time supporter of refugee rights. The video for “Borders” expressed solidarity with those fleeing war zones, and M.I.A has spoken out to criticise the West’s attitude towards refugees. 

Unsurprisingly for the highly political artist, M.I.A’s decision to wear the PSG strip was taken consciously. In an Instagram message posted earlier today she explains her decision to wear the shirt, stating that it was bought “on my connection flight in Qatar on the way to the shoot” and was motivated by the fact that PSG has players who are “2nd gen migrants”. If you're wondering what all the fuss is about, check out M.I.A wearing the offending garment at 3.31 here. 

This is not the first time that MIA has found herself in legal difficulties due to a sports. After flipping the bird onstage during Madonna’s Super Bowl performance in 2012, M.I.A was hit up by official NFL lawyers for the ludicrous amount of $16.6 million dollars. True to form, M.I.A took to Twitter again to protest at the amount, given that NFL players who use racial abuse on the pitch barely get a slap on the wrist. 

Although the Qatari sovereign wealth fund that owns PSG will undoubtedly have hired the best legal guns that money can buy, we’re still hopeful that, once again, this is another battle that M.I.A will win.