Warning as England fans could be fined £4,000 at the Euros for little known German law
England fans who are lucky enough to be flying out to Germany for Euro 2024 could be fined a whopping £4,000 if they're not careful.
Last week, national team boss Gareth Southgate dropped a bit of a bombshell after leaving the likes of Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling were left out of his preliminary squad for the Euros in Germany.
There will also be no Jordan Henderson or Reece James in the final squad, with the competition taking place from 14 June to 14 July.
That being said, the provisional squad is full of talent, certainly in the forward department with the likes of Jude Bellingham, Phil Foden, Harry Kane and Cole Palmer all featuring.
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Amid the excitement of heading to Germany, fans will be hoping this will finally be the year 'football's coming home' (sorry, had to get it in there) and Southgate can take the team all the way in a big competition.
However, make sure you don't make the mistake of wearing a fake England shirt when you're in Germany because it's actually against the law.
Wearing a counterfeit football top is against 'trademark law' and possessing counterfeit items can leave you with a fine of around €5,000 (£4,260) if you violate a warning, according to law firm Cohausz & Florack.
Merrick Haydon, Executive VP of the UK arm of the sports marketing agency rEvolution said: “I fully understand the need to protect official partners and rights holders, but I do also have sympathy for the fans.
“Naturally, the counterfeit football shirt market spikes and receives more scrutiny around international tournaments such as the Euros and World Cup.
“Nowadays, clubs and countries release so many kits each year and prices seem to have gone through the roof recently, so many opt for the cheaper, counterfeit options. Clamping down on counterfeit football shirts is not a new phenomenon.”
Roman Brtka, Munich-based partner at global law firm Ashurst, added: “Trademark owners are entitled to prevent all third parties not having their consent from using their trademark.
“In Germany the EU Trademark regulation and the German Trademark Act prohibit, for example, the manufacturing, distribution and sale of such products. Damage claims of trade mark owners can be enormous depending, for example, on the value of the trademark and the number of counterfeit products sold.
“Trademark owners jointly with the authorities regularly conduct random checks at big events like trade fairs and sport events.
“Private individuals, however, are not subject to trademark law if they act for private purposes only (e.g. buying a counterfeit football jersey for private use at home).”
Southgate's preliminary Euro 2024 squad
Goalkeepers
- Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace)
- Jordan Pickford (Everton)
- Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
- James Trafford (Burnley)
Defenders
- Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton)
- Lewis Dunk (Brighton)
- Joe Gomez (Liverpool)
- Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace)
- Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa)
- Harry Maguire (Manchester United)
- Jarell Quansah (Liverpool)
- Luke Shaw (Manchester United)
- John Stones (Manchester City)
- Kieran Trippier (Newcastle)
- Kyle Walker (Manchester City)
Midfielders
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
- Conor Gallagher (Chelsea)
- Curtis Jones (Liverpool)
- Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United)
- Declan Rice (Arsenal)
- Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace)
Forwards
- Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid)
- Jarrod Bowen (West Ham)
- Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace)
- Phil Foden (Manchester City)
- Jack Grealish (Manchester City)
- Anthony Gordon (Newcastle)
- Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
- James Maddison (Tottenham)
- Cole Palmer (Chelsea)
- Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)
- Ivan Toney (Brentford)
- Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)
The final 26-man squad must be submitted to UEFA by 7 June.
England's upcoming matches
England has two warm-up matches against Bosnia and Herzegovina (3 June) and Iceland (7 June) prior to our fixtures for the group stage:
Sunday, 16 June - Group C: Serbia vs England (Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen - kick-off 8pm BST)
Thursday, 20 June - Group C: Denmark vs England (Waldstadion, Frankfurt - kick-off 5pm BST)
Tuesday, 25 June - Group C: England vs Slovenia (RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne - kick-off 8pm BST)
Anish Vij