Fake football shirts worth £5.5m seized in one of UK’s biggest counterfeiting raids

More than 158,000 fake football strips have been seized in an operation targeting World Cup counterfeit kit and blocking criminals from trying to “cash in on fan demand”.Edinburgh’s trading standards team confiscated 9 tonnes of Scotland, England and other nations’ fake kits, worth an estimated £5.5m.The illicit market raid – described as one of the largest ever in the UK – came as a result of an intelligence operation involving Scotland" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="30102" data-entity-type="organization">Police Scotland and the national trading standards organisation, working with Edinburgh Council.The shirts, which included World Cup semi-finalists Spain and France, will be recycled after having been confirmed as fakes by the companies that own the real brands.Sham kits are not manufactured to the same safety standards as the authentic ones, which means they can contain harmful toxins in dyes or flammable materials. They are also commonly poorer quality than real shirts, trading standards said.Investigators are working on tracking down the source and supply routes, which authorities said often have links to organised crime, including human trafficking, modern slavery and the exploitation of vulnerable people.International trade estimates put the counterfeit and pirated goods market at about $467bn a year, representing 2.3% of global trade, according to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.The regulatory convener, Neil Ross, an Edinburgh councillor, described the haul as a “tremendous result”.He said: “With the World Cup well under way this is a timely reminder that criminals exploit major sporting events by flooding the market with counterfeit goods to cash in on fan demand. Let me be clear, this is not a victimless crime. Counterfeiters undermine legitimate businesses, rip off supporters and sell products with no guarantee for how or where they were made or whether they meet basic safety standards.“The investigations into the supply routes involved in this discovery continue but we know that this is part of an international trade in counterfeit goods and represents a significant dent to their illegitimate trade.”A Scottish Football Association spokesperson said: “The Scottish FA invests income into the game at every level, from the grassroots scene through to the senior international squads. Without the funds generated from licensing, merchandising and sponsorship, this would be severely impacted.”They added: “Scotland’s return to the Fifa World Cup stage has, understandably, led to huge demand for official kit and merchandise in general.“Unfortunately, major tournament involvement also brings about a rise in counterfeit goods.”