Leicester City And JD Sports Under Investigation Over Merchandise Breach
An investigation has been launched by The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) into Leicester City and retailer JD Sports over “anti-competitive behaviour” relating to merchandise.
The watchdog said it had “reasonable grounds to suspect one or more breaches of competition law”.
It relates to suspected infringements regarding anti-competitive agreements over the sale of club branded products in the UK.
The regulator added: “The CMA has not reached a view as to whether there is sufficient evidence of an infringement of competition law for it to issue a statement of objections or, ultimately, an infringement decision, to any party under investigation”.
The probe into the reigning FA Cup Champions comes less than a year after the CMA launched a similar investigation into merchandising price fixing of Rangers’ football kits sold by JD Sports and other retailers.
JD Sports is already awaiting a final decision from the competition watchdog over its planned takeover of rival Footasylum after the CMA was told to reassess its original decision to block the deal.
A Leicester City spokesperson said, “Leicester City Football Club takes its obligations to comply with competition law very seriously and is fully cooperating with the Competition and Markets Authority in respect of the investigation”.
JD also mentioned that they will be fully cooperating with the investigation and added no further comment.
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