Saudi Arabia is pouring a fortune into soccer, including £180m a year for Cristiano Ronaldo. But while the counterfeiters see a chance to make money, the fans won’t forget human rights
I saw something to make me scoff with amused despair, a thing embodying many a madness and badness of our age. It was a child-sized replica football shirt, swinging gently on its hanger, at a seaside market stall on the Adriatic coast. It’s a noticeably well-appointed retail operation, this stall. Beach towels, Bluetooth speakers, snorkels, fridge magnets, swimwear, pouches of lavender, imitation handguns … you know the kind of thing.
The football strips included plenty of Croatian national team shirts, plus those of clubs with Croatian players: Modrić’s name printed on Real Madrid shirts, Perišić’s on Tottenham’s, Kovačić’s at Chelsea and so on. (I didn’t ask, but there is probably a deal to be done on that Chelsea shirt, as Kovačić is now at Man City). I doubt any of these garments were what you might call authentic™ official© merchandise®. But whatever.
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