Man U fined for fixing shirt prices

13 April 2012

TEN firms, including Premiership champions Manchester United, have been fined a total £18.6m for fixing the price of soccer kits.

The Office of Fair Trading said the ten had rigged the market for top-selling replica England and Man U shirts. Other agreements involved replica kits for Chelsea, Celtic, and Nottingham Forest.

High Street chain JJB Sports received the biggest fine, almost £8.4m, followed by kit maker Umbro (£6.6m). Man U was fined more than £1.6m and the Football Association £158,000.

'The fines imposed reflect the seriousness of the price fixing in this case,' said OFT chairman John Vickers. 'Since we launched our investigation the prices of replica football shirts have fallen and consumers can now shop around and get a better price.'

Man U, the world's richest soccer club, said it was considering an appeal. 'Manchester United maintains that it has not participated in price fixing in the market for replica kits,' it said, adding that it had co-operated with the OFT. Until his recent departure for Real Madrid, David Beckham replica shirts were international best-sellers.

JJB said it was launching an immediate appeal to the Competition Appeal Tribunal and attacked the OFT fine as 'politically motivated'.

The company also claimed the fines imposed against it and other retailers had been tripled because of assurances given to the OFT by the FA, English Premier League clubs and kit manufacturers following an investigation in 1999.

The ruling comes after a two-year investigation by the OFT when Tesco and Safeway tried to sell team kits for half price but found they could only obtain strips from the Continent and not official sources.

A document discovered in a raid on Umbro showed the company was intent on keeping prices high. Any retailer trying to sell its product at a reduced rate would be struck off its supply list and would not be given any more shirts to sell. The OFT revealed that strips were being made for £7 but sold for £39.99.

The FA took part in the racket despite having given the OFT a written assurance that it would take action to prevent prices being fixed.

The OFT said: 'JJB had the highest turnover of the 10 parties and this is one of the reasons it incurred the highest penalty.'

Allsports was fined £1.35m, Blacks Leisure £197,000, JD Sports £73,000 and Sports Connection £20,000.

The FA's initial fine was reduced by £40,000 for its co-operation with the investigation, while the company behind Englanddirect.com was given a full rebate for handing over documents which helped prove the case.

Meanwhile, Man U replica shirts are to go on sale today in supermarkets for £15 less than the club price. Asda is selling the shirts for £24.86, compared with the £39.99 price at the megastore at Old Trafford.

The supermarket now wants to sell shirts from all 20 Premiership clubs. That should open the floodgates for mass selling of cheaper replica kits and comes two weeks before the start of the new football season.

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