Leicester City face a fine of up to £880,000 for fixing kit prices.
Leicester City Fined For Kit Price Fixing
Leicester City will have to pay a fine of as much as £880,000 after they were found to have colluded with JD Sports to fix the prices of their kits and other official products. In 2019, JD made a deal with the Foxes to exempt all Leicester City branded clothing from their regular free delivery service, meaning buyers had to pay the extra shipping charge. The deal ran until 2021.
The Competition and Markets Authority handed down the fine. Both JD and Leicester City say none of their current senior management employees were involved, but both have accepted their wrongdoing. JD Sports escape a fine as they are the ones who reported the activity.
"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. The Club also wishes to clarify, and the CMA has acknowledged, that LCFC’s owners King Power and V&A Holding had no knowledge of or involvement in these sales arrangements." - statement from Leicester City.
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