September 9 – The English FA has hit Huddersfield Town with a £50,000 fine from the Football Association (FA) after ruling it breached the FA’s kit and advertising regulations over a sash-style shirt which displayed the Paddy Power logo during a friendly game against Rochdale on July 17.
Paddy Power, who are Huddersfield’s main sponsor but are not taking up the shirt position as part of ‘sponsor-free’ shirt campaign, ran the shirt for the Rochdale game as a marketing stunt.
The FA said the shirt broke its guidelines of 250 square centimetres for a shirt sponsor logo and
highlighted that referee Martin Coy had said that Huddersfield’s chairman, Phil Hodgkinson, asked him to ban the kit, which “could then potentially be good publicity and part of the advertising campaign.”
Paddy Power’s response was to point out the somewhat ridiculous inequities of the FA’s judicial procedure.
“On August 1st, the FA fined Millwall £10,000 for their supporters’ racist chanting,” said Paddy Power in a statement.
“Today, the FA fined Huddersfield Town £50,000 for wearing a fake shirt in a pre-season friendly. You couldn’t make this shirt up.”
The club said that it presumed that the FA’s kit regulations did not apply to friendly matches. “This is an unfortunate event but we accept responsibility and offer a full apology.”
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