大象传媒

Leicester City faces a fine of up to 拢880,000 for colluding to fix the price of replica football kits, the UK's competition regulator has said.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the club and retailer JD Sports had admitted to anti-competitive behaviour, including "price fixing conduct".

It said both broke competition law between 2018 and 2021 with an illegal deal on clothing sales.

The club has accepted the CMA findings.

The 2015-16 Premier League champions, and their parent companies, have subsequently agreed to pay a fine up to the maximum penalty of 拢880,000, the CMA said. JD Sports will avoid a fine after reporting the illegal activity.

The club stressed none of its current directors or senior management were involved in the arrangements. "These arrangements related to a limited number of bulk orders by JD Sports, which were accepted by the club's retail sales team over the relevant period," it said in a statement.

JD Sports also said no current or former directors or senior management of JD were involved in the offending conduct and that it signed a leniency agreement with the CMA last month.

大象传媒 Radio Leicester spoke to Michael Grenfell from the CMA, and Football Finance Expert Kieran Maguire explains to Owynn Palmer Atkin the impact this could have on the club.

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