NEWS of Newcastle United’s relegation clearly hasn’t reached the Far East fraudsters behind these dodgy shirts.
The fake Toon shirts, for sale on the internet, were uncovered as part of a special Sunday Sun investigation . . . but there is one giveaway mistake.
The knock-off strips are all versions of next season’s kit when the team will be in the Championship but they still carry the coveted Premier League badge on the sleeve.
The Far East-based websites all offer the counterfeit shirts for about $17 (£11), a quarter of the official version price at the club shop.
We contacted one website to ask if the kits were available without the patches, but we were told we would have to order 100 so that a new “model” could be created.
The supplier, who said he was in China, said ten of the shirts could be sent across for $17 each, to include shipping costs.
Football finance expert Professor Tom Cannon, of Liverpool University, said although the counterfeit market had a big effect on clubs’ marketing revenue in Asia, the effect of the internet was less pronounced.
He said: “It is nothing like the problem with the downloading of DVDs or music.
“It cuts out having to go to Asia to get cheap shirts, but even then in terms of sales it is a fairly small market. Most fans are quite uncomfortable with this kind of thing. One of the factors is that there is a degree of fans buying the shirt to support their club.”
Experts suggest that the counterfeit football shirt market in Asia could cost clubs up to 20pc of their revenue in that part of the world.
And the club is working to try to stop the trade.
A Newcastle United spokesman said: “The club and its kit sponsor are aware of this problem and as such are working with trading standards in conjunction with other kit manufacturers, other governing bodies and the like to try and put a stop to such practices.”
Consumer groups also warn that fake shirts are likely to be made of substandard materials, and in some cases the profits are used to fund serious organised crime.
Newcastle’s kit is made by Adidas, and a spokesman for the sportswear company added: “Sales of counterfeit shirts rip off fans, as they are often very poor quality and they also take away income from the clubs.
“The trade is often run by organised crime.”
A spokesman for Newcastle City Council Trading Standards added: “Buying online can be a great way to get a bargain and be a really flexible way to shop, but we always encourage people to be very careful when shopping over the internet, especially when buying from abroad.
“There is no way to guarantee the quality of what you are buying and sometimes, especially with electrical goods and toys, the goods can even be dangerous.
“An easy way to be safe is to stick to retailers you know about or ones that have been personally recommended to you. Buying from abroad also makes it very difficult to get your money back if you need to.”
A spokesman for the Office of Fair Trading said the office did not comment on individual cases, for fear of jeopardising ongoing investigations. However, he said: “We do consider any complaint that we receive.”
http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/news/north-east-news/2009/06/21/fake-nufc-shirts-carry-premier-league-badge-79310-23935068/
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