Ireland Fans Ripped Off-Labour Party
Green Army fans 'being ripped off' -The Irish Independent
IRELAND'S Green Army of loyal football fans are being taken for a ride, it was claimed yesterday.
The Labour Party has called on the FAI and soccer shirt manufacturers Umbro to respect their supporters and not raise the price of the latest football shirt.
The new jersey, worn by the Irish team in Wednesday night's 3-0 win over Sweden, is due to go on sale on St Patrick's Day.
Party spokesperson on consumer affairs, Deputy Kathleen Lynch said: "The soccer-supporting public - and the thousands of kids who so proudly wear the shirts of their heroes - deserve better treatment for the support and contribution they make to the performances of our team.
"I am calling on the FAI to respect their loyal supporters and not hike up the price of the new shirt.
"It is only 18 months (September 2004) since the team last launched a new jersey, in which time only a handful of matches were played."
Deputy Lynch accused the FAI and Umbro, who both earn many thousands of euro through the sale of replica shirts, of taking Irish supporters for a ride.
"A new jersey was introduced in March 2003, and the one before that in September 2001, which itself was little over a year after the team sported a new one in the summer of 2000," she continued.
"Given the limited number of international fixtures, this means there is a new Irish international home shirt for every 10 games the team plays."
