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Adidas Chelsea FC

Adidas tells Sports Direct to get its kit off

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By John Glenday, Reporter

December 13, 2013 | 2 min read

Chelsea has become the first football club to have its shirts made artificially scarce in order to boost the desirability (and cost) of the garments.

The decision was taken by sportswear brand Adidas which has taken the unprecedented step of withdrawing Chelsea’s replica shirt from sale at all Sports Direct stores for the 2014/15 season.

Chelsea fans will be forced to go through official Chelsea FC shops or its website to pick up the shirts instead.

Describing the move as ‘impossible to understand’ Sports Direct chief executive Dave Forsey said: “We just can’t understand how it could possibly be right for Sports Direct to not have the kit.”

The sportswear chain has also warned it could be forced into retaliatory measures to ‘protect’ its position in the sector – such as withdrawing all Adidas products from its stores.

In a statement Adidas said: “Like all manufacturers, we regularly review, season by season, where our products are distributed. We determine distribution channels for all products based on criteria such as in-store environment and customer service levels.

“This season, we’re implementing a new distribution strategy across Europe for key products in football and other sports. We’d like to point out that Sports Direct continues to be an important retailer for adidas and their customers still have the opportunity to buy a great range of adidas products in their stores.”

Adidas Chelsea FC

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