Rangers sell ‘fourth kit’ after fine for price fixing
RANGERS have put a fourth kit on sale to supporters — three days after being fined for their part in previously fixing the price of jerseys.
The Ibrox club launched the new strips in shops and online at 8am this morning.
Believed to be predominantly black in colour, the shirt is an alternative to the traditional blue home kit, the white and red away jersey as well as the orange third kit.
The launch is in line with the unveiling of an all-white jersey a few weeks into last season, which was also a fourth kit.
It comes in the week that the Glasgow club was fined £225,000 by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for its involvement in price fixing over a short period four years ago.
Two retailers were also fined a total of nearly £2million for their part in colluding to keep prices high. The CMA fined JD Sports £1,485,000 and Elite Sports £459,000 for conspiring to push up prices and on the timing of end-of-season discounts.
At the outset of the 2018-19 season, Rangers became concerned that JD Sports was undercutting Elite, which was the club’s online retail partner, on replica tops. An agreement was reached between the parties to increase JD Sports’ price from £55 to £60 to match that of Elite.
The competition watchdog said the two retailers broke the law by fixing prices of the Rangers-branded kits and other clothing items from September 2018 to July 2019. It added that Rangers ‘also took part in the collusion’, but only in fixing the price of specific adult home shortsleeved shirts from September to mid-November in 2018.
The CMA said it also found that Elite and JD, without involvement from Rangers, fixed the prices of Rangers-branded clothing, including training wear and replica kit, over a longer period.
Michael Grenfell, the competition watchdog’s executive director of enforcement, said that, at a time when the rising cost of living is a concern for many, ‘it is important that football fans are able to benefit from competitively priced merchandise’.
He added: ‘Instead, Elite, JD Sports and, to some extent, Rangers, worked together to keep prices high.’
Meanwhile Ianis Hagi has been dealt another potential blow after his legendary father Gheorghe admitted he may not be able to return to action until the New Year. The Rangers forward has been missing since January after being forced off with what was later determined to be an ACL injury during his side’s Scottish Cup victory over Stirling Albion.
He had to undergo surgery to repair the damage at the time and has been trying to work his way back to fitness ever since.
But his hopes of making a return any time before the break for the World Cup appear to be over after Hagi senior told Romanian TV: ‘I don’t know whether Ianis will play this year or not. He is in his last period of rehabilitation, but that won’t be a short period of time either. It takes time.’