JD Sports will not appeal £1.5m fine from CMA for price fixing Rangers FC shirts
JD Sports Fashion (JD Sports) has confirmed the company will not be appealing the hefty fine it has been hit with for fixing prices fans pay for Rangers FC replica shirts.
The outfitter was investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) over suspected violations of competition law alongside Rangers Football Club and Elite Sports.
JD Sports has revealed it co-operated fully with the CMA throughout this investigation, including taking swift steps to apply for leniency and agreeing to settle the investigation.
This is why the CMA has applied a discounted penalty of £1.485m, which is still significantly more than the fines levied against Rangers (£225,000) and Elite Sports (£449,000).
In accordance with the CMA’s standard terms of settlement, JD will not be appealing against this penalty.
In June earlier this year, the CMA had provisionally found that Elite Sports and JD Sports fixed the retail prices of a number of Rangers-branded replica kits and other clothing products from September 2018 until at least July 2019.
At the time, JD Sports announced that it would report a £2m hit in its financial statements for the year of trading up to January 2022.
It also clarified that no directors or management of JD were involved in any price fixing, and that the company has since strengthened its competition compliance programme.