United and FA hit by OFT fines

Manchester United and the Football Association have been hit in the pocket for “fixing” the price of replica kits.

United have been fined £1.652m (€2.3m) by Britain's Office of Fair Trading while the FA were hit with a £198,000 (€284,000) fine, although that was cut to £158,000 (€226,000) "by leniency".

The OFT concluded their long-running investigation into the alleged price fixing of replica football kits by fining 10 businesses – including United and the FA – a total of £18.6m (€26.7m).

The fines were announced to the Stock Exchange this morning and United immediately responded with a statement denying any wrong-doing and admitting they are considering an appeal.

Their statement read: “Manchester United was informed today that the Office of Fair Trading has decided to fine the group £1.652m."

Their statement added: “Manchester United is disappointed that the OFT has taken this action.

“Manchester United has co-operated fully with the OFT throughout its investigation and has vigorously and consistently defended its position in relation to the allegations of price fixing.

“Manchester United maintains that it has not participated in price fixing in the market for replica kit.

“Manchester United is considering its position with regard to an appeal and a further announcement will be made in due course.”

The FA claimed they had co-operated with the investigation and insisted they had acted in the interests of England.

A statement on their website, www.thefa.com read: “The decision and the relative level of fines imposed recognises the FA’s limited role in the overall agreements under investigation.

“The FA has sought to co-operate at all times with the OFT and has made it clear that it only entered into a very limited arrangement in order to increase the availability of England kit, which had previously not been available over the internet or all year round.

“The FA takes its duties to football and the footballing public very seriously. That was why it took steps to widen the availability of the England replica kit – a kit that is immensely popular with fans.

“As the OFT has recognised, The FA has taken steps to ensure that its future shirt sales operations will fully comply with competition law.”

OFT chairman John Vickers claimed the investigation had already reaped rewards with fans now able to buy shirts cheaper.

He said: “The fines imposed reflect the seriousness of the price fixing in this case.

“Since we launched our investigation the prices of replica football shirts have fallen and consumers can now shop around and get a better price.”

Along with the punishment for United and the FA, JJB Sports were fined £8.373m (€11.9m), Umbro £6.641m (€9.4m), Allsports £1.35m (€1.8m), Blacks £197,000 (€282,000), Sports Soccer £123,000 (€176,000), JD Sports £73,000 (€104,000), Sports Connection £20,000 (€28,000), reduced from £27,000 (€38,000).

An OFT statement added that “other agreements involved the short sleeved adult and junior Chelsea, Glasgow Celtic and Nottingham Forest shirts or the entire England replica football kit.”