More than £18m worth of counterfeit football shirts were seized in the UK during the World Cup after the Fire Service warned the fakes are far more flammable than genuine kits and could pose a 'particular risk to children'. The tournament triggered a spike in fake shirt sales, prompting a police crackdown that recovered over 220,000 pieces of football merchandise as part of Operation Bloxwich, a UK police effort targeting counterfeit goods. Border Force officers worked 'round-the-clock' to stop thousands more shirts from flooding the streets, with seizures made in at least 23 separate operations. One raid involved 1,618 fake strips being taken from a warehouse in Birmingham, including replicas of star players such as France's Kylian Mbappe and Norway's Erling Haaland.
Detective Sergeant Jamie Kirk of the City of London Police, who took part in the operation, said: 'I understand why people want to buy these shirts, people love football and the incentive is the lower price - but these shirts, they're not regulated and could be highly flammable. They have dyes in them which could be harmful to skin, particularly children's skin. While the cost is lower - and that's the attractive part - potential damages to you and the people making them is just far too high.'
“Fakes worth £18m seized in UK during World Cup as fire service warns they are far more flammable than genuine kits.”
Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service tested the flammability of counterfeit shirts against genuine kit. Watch manager Dave Jackson, who carried out the test by hanging them on an iron bar and using blow torches, said: 'It's quite clear that the counterfeit one melted as soon as the burner went on it. I really had to try to make the genuine one ignite and melt. It's extremely dangerous. It's something that can cause horrific injuries to your children. It's just not worth the savings.'
Investigators said the seized shirts contained harmful chemicals banned under UK safety laws, including dangerous levels of poisons such as arsenic and lead. A Border Force spokesman added: 'Seized shirts have been found to contain harmful chemicals banned under UK safety law - a particular risk for children. There is no quality check, no safety guarantee, and no recourse if something goes wrong. While shoppers looking may be looking for a bargain, they are inadvertently supporting illegal and criminal activities, fuelling child and forced labour. The dangerous underground economy fake shirts support can include drug smuggling, serious violence and dangerous working conditions.'
Kate Caffrey, head of intelligence at the Intellectual Property Office, warned: 'Counterfeit strips are not subject to health and safety regulations, British Standards [or] EU standards. We've got evidence that counterfeit goods are made in appalling conditions, so you just don't know what's in them, how they're being made and there's no way of providing any safety reassurances. Counterfeiting is criminal, these are manufactured and supplied by criminal networks, criminal gangs and they're very adept at targeting markets where there's demand. So the World Cup, the forthcoming Premier League season - they're going to flood the market with fake shirts. The price of a fake shirt, you don't know what you're funding with that money.'
The seizures come as fans hit out at the sky-high prices charged for Premier League teams' replica shirts and the new England kit, raising questions about whether affordability pressures are driving supporters towards dangerous counterfeits.