Dutch customs intercepted 42,000 pieces of fake football clothing last year. “And that is just a drop in the ocean,” says a customs officer at Schiphol. He calls on consumers to stop buying cheap counterfeit shirts.
Alissa Verwoerd
News reporter
If the 42,000 items had come onto the market, the value is estimated at around 3.6 million euros. And this year too, customs will encounter all kinds of counterfeit football products, more than 10,000 of them.
Customs sees that criminals are responding en masse to the World Cup fever that is increasingly flaring up. Dirt cheap Orange shirts are available everywhere. Wagons full of fake football equipment arrive at the Schiphol storage facility every week. “We do our best, but we probably only find a fraction of what is sent. It is a drop in the ocean,” said one of the customs officers.
Consumer partly responsible
It’s a matter of mopping with the tap open, according to customs. And the consumer is also responsible for this. Customs therefore calls on Dutch people not to buy fake Dutch national team or other football shirts.
“You are sponsoring criminals. They earn millions of euros. The trade in counterfeit products can also contribute directly or indirectly to the financing of terrorist organizations,” customs said. “In addition, counterfeit shirts are often made under very poor conditions with forced labor. And counterfeit products are often unsafe. The shirts may contain harmful substances that can be carcinogenic.”
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