In an interview with weekly business magazine Euro am Sonntag he said the firm was determined to try to improve its position in football products, but was not sure what was going to happen in the light of global economic turmoil.

He said, “In a normal economic climate I would be sure that we would be able to further increase out turnover with football products from 2008, but prognoses are difficult at the moment. We will certainly be doing all we can to expand our market leadership in football.”

Reebok, which Adidas took over in 2006, is set to expand in Germany he said, and should globally maintain a stable turnover. “Not many sports product manufacturers will manage that,” he said.

China should remain a growth area even into 2010, he said, predicting that Adidas would turn over a billion euros next there for the first time. But the important Russian market is stagnating, he added, and the paper added that the company has abandoned plans to have 700 shops in Russia by the end of this year.

The German market is doing “surprisingly well”, said Hainer in the interview. The Herzogenaurach, Bavaria-based company is still opening new shops here, he said, but the expansion was not continuing as fast as it had been in 2006 and 2007. company is still opening new shops here, he said, but the expansion was not continuing as fast as it had been in 2006 and 2007.

“How things will continue in 2010 will depend on how long the crisis continues for,” he said.

“Now it is sensible to keep an eye on finances and keep the company stable rather than primarily to generate growth.”