JD SPORTS, ELITE Sports and Rangers have been fined a total of more than £2million by the competition watchdog after it found they fixed the prices of replica football kits.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Elite Sports and JD Sports broke the law by fixing retail prices of the Rangers-branded kits and other clothing items from September 2018 to July 2019.
It added that Rangers “also took part in the collusion”, but only in fixing the price of specific adult home short-sleeved shirts from September to mid-November in 2018.
The CMA added that all three worked together to stop JD Sports undercutting the retail price of the shirt on Elite’s Gers Online store.
JD Sports has been fined £1.485m, Elite Sports fined £459,000 and Rangers fined £225,000.
The regulator first began an investigation in December 2020.
Elite manufactured Rangers-branded clothing at the time and also sold it through its online store and later in physical stores in Glasgow and Belfast, while JD was the only UK-wide major retailer also selling the items at the time.
The CMA said its investigation found that the football club became concerned that, at the start of the 2018-19 season, JD was selling the Rangers replica top at a lower price than Elite.
This resulted in an agreement between the parties that JD would lift its price from £55 to £60 to bring it in line with Elite.
The CMA said it also found that Elite and JD, without involvement from Rangers, fixed the prices of Rangers-branded clothing, including training wear and replica kit, over a longer period.
Michael Grenfell, executive director of enforcement at the CMA, said: “At a time when many people are worried about the rising cost of living, it is important that football fans are able to benefit from competitively priced merchandise.
“Instead, Elite, JD Sports and, to some extent, Rangers, worked together to keep prices high.
“Today’s decision sends a clear message to football clubs and other businesses that illegal anti-competitive collusion will not be tolerated.”
JD Sports said on Tuesday that it will not be appealing against the penalty and said it had already set aside a provision of roughly £2 million to cover the matter, including associated legal costs.
“No directors or senior management of JD were involved in the offending conduct, which took place in 2018-2019,” the company added.
“JD has taken a number of steps to strengthen its competition compliance programme and is committed to ensuring that this is embedded into its daily operations.”
A Dublin team with everyone making themselves available to the team,will be a very dangerous team. And only a good thing for hurling. Next year you could have 4 teams in Leinster and be 5 teams in Munster that on anyones day could beat eachother.
@Jack Fogarty: you could possibly have 6 teams in Munster if it wasn’t for jackasses like yer man above.
Sorry Ger, but you’re just embarrassing yourself. And I don’t even like Dublin.
@Eoin Nolan: fu€k you
@Ger Martin: The truth hurts doesn’t it sweetheart?
@Ciara Baines: nope
I actually don’t give a fu€k what you think
I told the truth there and that’s why you are responding through bitterness
All you Dublin ponses are all the same
Take you out of the city in any direction and there will be traffic chaos as it’s like rabbits caught in headlights
Ha ha €unts all of ye
@Ger Martin: hahahahahahahahahahahahaha thanks for not disappointing Geraldine.
@Ger Martin: hahaha, no arguing with that!!!! Good man.
They will win fu€k all
The gaa will pump a load of money in as usual to have a manufactured team trying to play a traditional game against the lads that uts bred into since they came out of the cradle
And also with a fella that knows no more about hurling than a pig knows about having a holiday
You will see a glass eye growing out if a tom cats arse before you will see that crowd winning a championship
@Ger Martin: I take it you dont like the Dubs Ger
@Ger Martin: what about the nucleus
@Ger Lyons: the nucleus could do it
@Mervyn Queally: fu€k them
The dubs think the whole world revolves around them and everyone should bow down to them
I hope the piss is hammered out of them in every game they play
@Ger Martin: gilroy played both hurling and football with vinnys ya fool. All the lads who dropped off the panal will come back in. He led the footballers to the 1st sam maguire in 16 yrs im sure hes gonna have a huge impact on the hurlers.
To be fair, it’s comments like this that convince us how bloody thick the rest of the country is.
@ryan o sullivan: he led them
It’s you that’s the fool you fu€kin pri€k
Kerry fu€kin handed it to them
So what if he played club hurling with the vinnies you Dublin fu€kin ponse
That doesn’t make him an inter county manager
And as for being a player he wasn’t worth one bucket of goats shit you €unt
@BlueMagic: it’s a gas rant to read all the same, amazed he could post the comments before his exploded from all that Dublin hatred
@Ger Martin: Someone has serious anger issues. Get a great laugh out of your posts though so thanks for the giggles!
@Ger Martin: your comments are mighty, best laugh ive had on here in ages. We will beat the dubs for ya in SHC first round next year.
@Ciara Baines: fu€k you toots
Suck my dick
@Ger Martin: Doubt you even have one pet! At least not till you pass puberty.