BLOWING THE WHISTLE ON ILLEGAL 2010 EVENT-BRANDED MERCHANDISE

Press Release

“With an event as large as the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ it is necessary to have stringent regulations in place as to what kinds of products will be sold and how they will be marketed and branded,” explains Paul Zacks, General Manager of Global Brands Group (GBG), the company appointed as FIFA’s exclusive worldwide Master Licensee. “Our company is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ brand and we do that by working only with trusted retail, manufacturing and distribution partners.”

Authorities have seized millions of Rands worth of illegally imported products at harbours and airports across South Africa. Since November 2009 alone, the South African Revenue Services (SARS) has detained more than R88 million worth of fake goods, with the figure increasing on a weekly basis.

GBG entered into partnership with a variety of South African companies who have a proven track record in their respective product categories to manufacture official licensed products. These companies include Seardell, Sesli Textiles, Lumoss, House of Busby, Fine Art 2010, Touchline Media, Turner Jewellery, National Stationery, Soy Lights and Promo-Gear to name but a few of our 40 South African licensees. GBG has also signed retail agreements with Edgars and Sneakers to operate the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Official Event Stores in South Africa. The Group insists that products bearing the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Official Event Marks consistently adhere to the best-practice standards in quality, production and related labour practices. South African consumers deserve nothing less.

Consumers need to look out for authentic merchandise, normally bearing the Official Licensed Product logo, and the DeLaRue hologram (as pictured right) inside all official licensed products which includes clothing, headwear, bags, fan gear, bar accessories, leather wallets, water bottles, coasters, traditional blankets, flags, makarapas, vuvuzelas and other soccer memorabilia,” says Zacks.

“Using any FIFA Intellectual Property without a licensing agreement in place is against the law and officials will confiscate illegal goods wherever they find them; counterfeiting is a serious criminal offence. We rely heavily on the general public’s assistance to report illegal importers, manufactures and distributors so any such acts of counterfeiting can be punished under respective local law. To curtail the growing number of fake products that are stripping the local manufacturers of an income and South Africans of job creation possibilities, please call 078 923 6776 to report these illegal dealings,” concludes Zacks.

For more information, please visit www.globalbrandsgroup.com.