Fake England shirts on the market simply days after expensive World Cup strip launch
Counterfeit kit sellers are cashing in after many people were left stunned by the price of the latest Three Lions shirt
Fake Wold Cup tees are already on sale(Image: INSTAGRAM)
Fakers are already flogging England’s £135 World Cup shirt on selling sites for just £25. Bootleggers have swamped auction site eBay and Facebook pages with counterfeit versions of the kit just days after the official strip went on sale.
On a Facebook page, a seller in the UK was offering adult tops up to 4XL for £25 and kids’ full kits for the same price. Over on eBay, several listings featured the new kit for the summer showpiece in the US, Canada and Mexico.
One seller was offering a Jude Bellingham number 10 top for £29.82. The Scotland-based vendor said: “This is still an amazing jersey.”
Fans must splash out more than ever before if they want to buy England’s official kit ahead of the World Cup, as the latest Three Lions replica shirt is the most expensive in history.
Even young fans will have to pay £114.99 for a ‘match’ strip.
Supporters who want a name and number on the back will have to pay up to an additional £60.
It comes after football fans have been warned that counterfeit kits could seriously damage their health amid fears England supporters, fuming over World Cup replica prices, will buy bogus ones instead.
Telly consumer watchdog Scott Dixon, who runs the Complaints Resolver website, said he believes fans will go fake after we revealed an official full match strip could cost up to £175.
Scott said the ‘unintended consequences’ of the ‘blatant’ greed’ of the Football Association and manufacturer Nike will be ‘fans buying cheap counterfeits which is known to fund organised crime’.
Counterfeits, often shipped from China, cost as little as a tenner. But anti-fake campaigner Planet Foot, which sells official strips, warned that going bogus could spell more trouble for fans.
Tests in the US showed one in three counterfeit sports kits contain ‘dangerous chemicals’ like cadmium, lead and even arsenic.
“These substances, which are absent from official, approved jerseys, can cause irritation or allergies, especially in children,” a Planet Foot spokesman said.
