Yahoo Finance Glasgow Rangers, JD Sports and Elite found guilty of price fixing
JD sports is bracing itself for a £2m fine after admitting fixing the price of Rangers FC shirts in "cartel activity" with Elite Sports.
The two sport retailers and Scottish football club are accused of breaking competition law by illegally setting the prices of replica kits £5 higher than they should have been.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said JD and Elite increased the price of a Rangers adult short-sleeved home replica shirt by nearly 10pc, from £55 to £60.
They are accused of tinkering with prices of Rangers-branded merchandise from September 2018 until at least July 2019.
The CMA said Rangers also took part in the alleged collusion, but only in relation to short-sleeved replica shirts from September 2018 to at least mid-November 2018.
Rangers said that the findings were "provisional" only and it doesn't mean that "Rangers has broken the law and that the CMA will issue a final decision or impose a fine on Rangers".
All three are alleged to have colluded to make sure a £60 Rangers shirt was not cheaper at JD Sports than in Elite's Gers Online store.
JD and Elite, which was the manufacturer of Rangers-branded clothing and also sold it online, timed the level of discounts towards the end of the football season in 2019, to avoid competition between them and protect their profits at the expense of fans, the CMA said.
The findings come after a torrid time for JD, which is still reeling from the botched takeover of smaller rival Footasylum and the sudden departure of its long-term boss Peter Cowgill.
JD and Elite asked for leniency during the investigation, which was launched in 2020, and confessed to cartel activity, which may reduce the size of any fine they might face.
The CMA's Michael Grenfell said it won’t “hesitate to take action when we have concerns that companies may be working together to keep costs up”.
He added: “Football fans are well-known for their loyalty towards their teams.
“We are concerned that, in this case, Elite, JD Sports and, to some extent, Rangers, may have colluded to keep prices high, so that the two retailers could pocket more money for themselves at the expense of fans.”
JD has set aside £2m to cover any fines and legal costs it may incur if it is found to have broken the law. It said: “The CMA's findings are, at this stage, only provisional and the group will now review them with its advisers.”
The executive chairman of JD quit with immediate effect last month amid a review into governance at the top of the company, three months after it was fined more than £4m by the CMA in relation to the takeover of Footasylum.
The mergers regulator said they shared commercially sensitive information and failed to alert it about two meetings between the bosses of the two companies.
The shares are down almost 44pc since the start of the year, with the company worth £6.2bn.
Elite Sports has been contacted for comment.
