Pundit Simon Jordan has pitched a defence of Rangers after they were sanctioned by the Competition and Markets Authority for fixing the prices of certain club merchandise.
The CMA issued fines totalling at £2million to Rangers Football Club, Elite Sports and JD Sports after they were decided to have broken competition law when they fixed the retail prices of a number of Rangers-branded replica kits and other clothing products from September 2018 until at least July 2019. The UK Government watchdog stated the Scottish Premiership side took part in the alleged collusion, but only to the extent of fixing the retail price of adult home short-sleeved replica shirts from September 2018 to at least mid-November 2018, with a £225,000 issued.
The sanctions were raised by Jim White on talkSPORT after all three parties admitted to acting illegally which helped "bring a swifter resolution to the CMA’s investigation." Former Crystal Palace owner Jordan admitted he could see "the flip side of the argument".
He said: "It is naughty in some respects, because it's down to competition and the consumer gets the benefit when they are priced the way you want (the retailer) and you can choose the product at a better price than someone else, and that is the purpose of competition. The flip side of the argument, of course, is that people should be able to price things for what they want.
"What JD wanted to do was price it at £60 and so did Rangers. There was an organisation, I suspect, who wanted to price it slightly differently.
"I suspect they forced them by distribution leverage, because JD Sports would have been a significant distributor of Rangers shirts, Rangers of course would be a significant distributor of shirts direct. So they forced a competitor into a price fixing point of view, which then means the consumer is disadvantaged.
"Ultimately the consumer has to pay one price, there is one price point and you can't get a better deal. There is an argument, and people will say 'oh you are a capitalist' but in a free market people should be able to price things what they want, and people should be able to do that.
"But there is an argument to say that when you bring the price down you devalue it. The argument could be, and I'm not saying it is, but football fans are the first to tell people spend your money, buy more players, buy this, increase the wages.
"Some of the things has to be funded by the things that the fans buy. With that in mind Rangers wanted to have a price point of £60, so did JD Sports. but Elite Sports were then forced into that situation and complied with it."
White pointed out that it is the consumers that would be left paying the price for this, Jordan continued: "The flip side of that if Rangers wanted to sell their kit at £60, and Rangers took all that; and JD Sports, which is a commercial organisation wanted to sell their kit at £60, and don't forget there is a licensing fee (to pay to Rangers), but Rangers sell it for £60 they take up a portion of that £5 and it goes to the betterment of the club.
"So they don't want people at £55. If JD Sports or Elite Sports is selling it for £50 you might not go to the Rangers club shop when you can go down to JD Sports and buy it for £50. It's a two sided argument, but the purpose of this regulator is to protect the consumer and price fixing is not allowed."
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