Mike Ashley taking Newcastle to competition regulator in bitter row over club’s new Adidas kit
MIKE ASHLEY is taking Newcastle United, the club he used to own, to the competition regulator in a major bitter row over football shirts.
Newcastle United recently switched its kit provider from Castore to Adidas and as part of the agreement has struck an exclusivity to only sell football shirts through the club’s shop and arch rival JD Sports.
The Sports Direct tycoon has now submitted a claim to the Competition Appeals Tribunal.
Sports Direct alleges in its claim that: “The Club has abused its dominant position in the market for the wholesale supply of Newcastle United replica kit in the UK [in breach of competition law] by refusing to supply Sports Direct with the Club’s replica kit for the 2024/25 season and granting JD Sports, another UK sports retailer, exclusive rights as a third-party retailer of the Club’s replica kit”.
A source close to Mr Ashley claimed that “football fans will ultimately suffer from higher prices”.
It is understood that Sports Direct still used to sell 50,000 Newcastle United shirts, despite Magpies fans’ outrage about his ownership.
Ashley owned Newcastle between 2007 and 2021.
The 59-year-old became an unpopular figure in the Toon, and eventually sold to the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
The £300million deal resulted in Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund owning 80 per cent, with the billionaire Reuben brothers and financier Amanda Staveley taking 10 per cent each.
Ashley made a £195million profit from the sale of the club, his Mash Holdings accounts revealed.
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Ashley previously blew the whistle on price fixing of football shirts in 2004 case that involved his arch rivals Dave Whelan and JJB Sports.
Two years after Ashley left, Newcastle qualified for the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.
However, they crashed out of the competition in the group stages.