{"id":870597,"date":"2026-04-20T12:39:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/870597\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T12:39:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:39:49","slug":"over-4000-fake-football-shirts-seized-by-police-in-pre-world-cup-crackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/870597\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 4,000 fake football shirts seized by police in pre-World Cup crackdown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over 4,400 fake football shirts have been seized by UK police in the biggest raid of a new pre-World Cup crackdown.<\/p>\n

The early morning operation took place in the Midlands on Saturday at one of the largest outdoor markets in the country.<\/p>\n

The cut-priced counterfeits \u2014 including shirts of major tournament teams such as Argentina, France, Portugal and England \u2014 were located at one stall that has been under long-term surveillance.<\/p>\n

One man was arrested on suspicion of distributing counterfeit goods and taken into custody. He was later released on bail pending further investigation. Police confirmed that they intend to speak to further individuals believed to be involved in the case.<\/p>\n

The police operation \u2014 code named Bloxwich, which includes collaboration with external partners and other law enforcement agencies \u2014 targets the sale and distribution of counterfeits, including illicit football shirts online and in physical locations leading into the 2026 World Cup this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Seven officers from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police arrived at the site just before 9am (BST) and carried out the raid of the stall, which was suspected of selling fakes for \u00a320 ($27) compared to \u00a380 ($108) for the real thing.<\/p>\n

In total 4,433 items were removed from the stall and taken to a secure location to be analysed by experts and verified as counterfeits. All the items \u2014 including Premier League and major European club sides \u2014 were catalogued and retained for evidence. The haul represents a loss to the legitimate kit market of approximately \u00a3400,000 ($540,776).<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people see this as quite a minor crime, I understand that they want to get a shirt for their kids or themselves for the World Cup coming up, but this type of crime leads into far bigger criminality,\u201d Detective Sergeant Jamie Kirk from PIPCU told The Athletic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may appear to be a bargain, but the reality is that purchasing counterfeit goods can help fund serious organised crime, including money laundering, human trafficking, forced labour and drug supply.\u201d Kirk also highlighted that \u201cpoor quality\u201d items that \u201cfail to meet required standards, can be flammable or contain harmful chemicals.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\n (Adam Leventhal, The Athletic)<\/p>\n

The Athletic highlighted the sale and criminal background of the counterfeit industry<\/a> in \u2018The Underground World of Fake Football Shirts\u2019 \u2014 a special investigation episode of The Athletic FC podcast <\/a>\u2014 in March 2025.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Premier League intercepted 230,000 products and removed 130,000 online listings globally which, it says, prevented the sale of \u00a320million worth of counterfeit goods. The rise in fakes is, in part, caused by the high price of the genuine articles.<\/p>\n

England, France and United States men\u2019s national team kit suppliers Nike charges \u00a3134.99 for a \u201cfootball authentic jersey\u201d for the World Cup with the same features as those worn by players in the tournament, while replicas are \u00a389.99 (adult) or \u00a369.99 (child). Made from recycled plastic bottles, the manufacturer says the products deliver \u201cpeak performance with lower impact on the environment\u201d and \u201cdiverts an average of one billion plastic bottles annually from landfill and waterways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adidas\u2019s World Cup range \u2014 including reigning champions Argentina, co-hosts Mexico and four-time winners Germany \u2014 is priced at \u00a360 (child), \u00a385 (adult) and \u00a3120 (player edition). Puma, who supply kits for 11 of the 48 World Cup sides, have the same three product tiers priced at \u00a3135, \u00a380 and \u00a360. All of the prices listed don\u2019t include personalisation, which ranges between an additional \u00a315 to \u00a320.<\/p>\n

The Athletic found that 78 per cent of subscribers surveyed last year <\/a>\u00a0had bought a fake shirt, 66 per cent intended to continue doing so and 89 per cent cited cost as the main motivating factor.\u00a0 Despite established links between counterfeiting and organised crime, 42 per cent of respondents said that nothing would dissuade them from buying another fake shirt.<\/p>\n

Following its tenth \u2018Football Against Fakes\u2019 event in November, the Premier League said by working with \u201cclubs, partners and law enforcement authorities\u201d it remains \u201csteadfast in its commitment to reducing the sale and distribution of counterfeit products and continues to take action in this regard around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the U.S. at the start of April, Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) warned fans \u201cto remain vigilant against criminals seeking to profit from the global event through the sale of counterfeit merchandise\u201d and highlighted a public awareness campaign called \u201cTrue Fans Keep It Real\u201d.<\/p>\n

ICE Deputy Director Charles Wall said sellers are \u201cpreying on fan enthusiasm.\u201d Last year, the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center \u2014 working with Homeland Security Investigations directorate, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and state and local law enforcement \u2014 say they seized 276,000 counterfeits valued at approximately $33m with a statement saying \u201cWith the World Cup drawing a global audience, ICE expects similar criminal activity and is taking proactive steps to protect consumers and legitimate businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Over 4,400 fake football shirts have been seized by UK police in the biggest raid of a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":870598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[73628,7,16199,3373],"class_list":{"0":"post-870597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-fifa-mens-world-cup","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-international-football","11":"tag-soccer"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116437088507188579","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}