Sokito, the new UK football brand, has developed ‘bio-based’ boots, which were worn by William Troost-Ekong throughout Nigeria’s Africa Cup of Nations opening game.

William Troost-Ekong, the Former Watford Captain, played the match against Equatorial Guinea, whilst wearing custom-made Sokito boots. This game kicked-off the Super Eagles’ 2024 Africa Cup of Nations campaign. These boots make Troost-Ekong the first player to wear and play in football boots which are vegan-friendly and manufactured out of bio-based materials. These include corn waste, sugarcane and bamboo.

These innovative boots are named ‘Scudetta’ and are due to be available on the market by the summer of 2024. The shoes will include suede lining, plus a tongue created from corn waste, castor beans will make up the sole plate, sugarcane and bamboo will be combined to create an insole and the knit collar will consist of tencel wood fibre. Alongside the practical elements, the design of the shoe, was inspired by Nigeria’s landscape, whilst it also incorporates references to the team’s home and away kits, through the use of their green colour.

Sokito, the developer of the shoe, is also the winner of Recycling Project of the Year at the 2023 UK Green Business Awards. The company have chosen to continue making the concept of recycling very prominent within their work, which has led to their project of creating a football boot which is manufactured out of 100% recycled and sustainable materials. Their overall aim with this goal is to work on tackling the issue of the 12.5 million boots per year, which are ultimately sent to landfill. They are working towards this goal through both their new shoe design and their recycling scheme.

Seeing the promise within this company’s work, Troost-Ekong and sixteen other footballers decided to invest in Sokito in June of 2023. Sokito has also received funding from former England and Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley, Dutch international Luuk de Jong, and The Professional Footballers Association's first sustainability champion, David Wheeler. This highlights what a significant difference Sokito has already made to the football boots and football industry. The number of investments also depicts that Sokito’s goals and aims for the future of their product and their recycling system, show great promise and will be significantly beneficial.

Sokito have predicted that their boots will be the most sustainable football boots in the market and will also be the first ones to be made primarily from bio-based materials.

Troost-Ekong, commented, "I enjoyed being part of the boot development process and I love the vibrant design and connection to nature - a great tribute to Nigeria."

Sokito founder Jake Hardy, mentioned, "When we heard that Will had been included in the Nigeria squad, we had to do something to celebrate the achievement. It was fantastic to see him line up in custom Sokitos."