An investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded that JD Sports and Leicester City Football Club (FC) broke competition law by “colluding to restrict competition in the sales of Leicester City-branded clothing, including replica kit, in the UK”.
As of July 31, the CMA levied a fine of £880,000 on Leicester City FC and its parent companies, King Power International Company and V&A Holdings Company.
The CMA said the fine includes a discount reflecting the company’s “admission and its agreement to a streamlined administrative procedure”.
The market watchdog granted JD Sports full immunity from a fine as the retailer brought the conduct to the CMA’s attention in January 2021 via a leniency application.
This comes after the CMA’s provisional findings revealed that the two parties broke competition law including selling replica kits, price-fixing and levying additional delivery charges on all orders of Leicester City-branded clothing on JD Sports’ website as part of the arrangement.
At the time, CMA’s executive director of enforcement Michael Grenfell 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.”
No comments yet