Leicester City Facing £880k Fine For Fixing Replica Kit Prices

Leicester City faces a fine of up to £880,000 for colluding to fix the price of replica football kits, the UK's competition regulator has said.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the club and retailer JD Sports had admitted to anti-competitive behaviour, including "price fixing conduct".

It said both broke competition law between 2018 and 2021 with an illegal deal on clothing sales.

The club has accepted the CMA findings.

The 2015-16 Premier League champions, and their parent companies, have subsequently agreed to pay a fine up to the maximum penalty of £880,000, the CMA said.

JD Sports will avoid a fine after reporting the illegal activity.

The provisional findings of a CMA investigation revealed that, in August 2018, JD Sports said it would stop selling Leicester City-branded clothing online for the 2018-19 season, and in January 2019, JD Sports agreed it would "not undercut" the club in terms of online sales for the following season by making Leicester City items exempt from free delivery.

It said JD Sports continued the agreement to sell all Leicester City clothing with the delivery charge until at least January 2021.

Michael Grenfell, the CMA's executive director of enforcement, said: "Strong and unimpeded competition between retailers is essential to consumers' ability to shop around for the best deals.

"Football fans are well-known for their loyalty towards their teams.

"In this case we have provisionally found that Leicester City FC and JD Sports colluded to share out markets and fix prices with the result that fans may have ended up paying more than they would otherwise have done.

"Both parties have now admitted their involvement, allowing us to bring the investigation to a swift conclusion.

"The fine that Leicester City FC and its parent companies have agreed to pay sends a clear message to them and other businesses that anti-competitive collusion will not be tolerated."

The club, which was relegated to the Championship last season, stressed none of its current directors or senior management were involved in the arrangements.

"These arrangements related to a limited number of bulk orders by JD Sports, which were accepted by the club's retail sales team over the relevant period," it said in a statement.

"There was no intention on the part of the club to unlawfully restrict the resale of the goods supplied and no material financial advantage to be gained from doing so, given the limited amount of kit supplied to JD Sports.

"However, the club accepts the CMA's findings and has taken steps to strengthen its training and compliance measures to ensure the club's retail operations fully comply with competition law."

JD Sports also said no current or former directors or senior management of JD were involved in the offending conduct and that it signed a leniency agreement with the CMA last month.

The company added: "JD has taken a number of steps to strengthen its competition compliance programme and the board reaffirms its commitment to making the necessary resource available, internal and external, to ensure that this is embedded into its daily operations."

The announcement come almost a year after JD Sports, its rival Elite Sports and Rangers Football Club were handed fines over price fixing on replica kits.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.