\n<\/p>\n
Side by side, there is no obvious difference between these two Manchester United shirts – but the genuine one would cost \u00a385 to buy, and the other just \u00a315.<\/b><\/p>\n
Counterfeit football kits are not a new issue, but some experts have raised concerns that the sub-standard materials used in their manufacture could even be harmful.<\/p>\n
“We just don’t know what’s in these kits – they could pose a health risk,” says Louise Baxter-Scott from Trading Standards.<\/p>\n
“They are poorly made but look legitimate, and the pressure of Christmas, plus the increase in cost of living creates a greater consumer vulnerability and pushes people towards a cheaper alternative.”<\/p>\n
And Chloe Long – deputy director general at the Anti-Counterfeiting Group – warns fake kits could even cause those wearing them to come out in a rash.<\/p>\n
“Wearing that strip could cause irritation,” she says. “It could even cause more significant problems – particularly if harmful toxins or dyes are used to manufacture those products.”<\/p>\n
Long has helped follow the supply chain of counterfeits, often originating from factories in China.<\/p>\n
Asked if there is evidence of toxins in the fake strips, she says: “It’s very difficult to know retrospectively what’s been put into the product, but you can see in some instances that they could be harmful.<\/p>\n
“And they don’t follow any regulations. They’re not bound by the same legalities and regulations the genuine manufacturers are.”<\/p>\n
Long says the counterfeiters have no morals, no standards, and the only thing they are motivated by is price.<\/p>\n
“Whatever they can get their hands on to make this look as close to the real thing as possible, they will do that,” she says.<\/p>\n
“So you don’t know what could happen when you put that in the washing machine with other products and, particularly if you’re buying it for children, this is just not a risk that you should be taking.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Side by side, there is no obvious difference between these two Manchester United shirts – but the genuine one would cost \u00a385 to buy, and the other just \u00a315. Counterfeit football kits are not a new issue, but some experts have raised concerns that the sub-standard materials used in their manufacture could even be harmful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2302\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}