Hong Kong customs arrested six people over smuggling and online sales of counterfeit 2026 FIFA World Cup merchandise as the tournament began June 11, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4].
About 230,000 suspected counterfeit items were seized, including roughly 30,000 fake football jerseys [1, 2, 5, 3, 6, 4]. The seized goods had an estimated market value around HK$156 million, equivalent to about $20 to $25.6 million [1, 2, 5, 3, 6, 4].
Most of the counterfeit items were destined for export, with about 80% headed to the Americas, where the World Cup is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19 [1, 2, 5, 6, 4]. Wayne Chung, senior inspector at Hong Kong Customs, said, "Many of the jerseys are uniforms of the participating countries. We noticed all of these clothes are set to be exported to other countries, not for local market. At least 80% of them head to America" [5].
The seized fakes included not only jerseys but also footwear, goalkeeper gloves, luxury bags, audio speakers, watches, and handbags [3, 4]. Chung noted, "Many of the shirts seized were 'highly authentic-looking'. General customers would find it hard to distinguish the fakes from the real ones." Some copies even replicated the 3D texture of the fabric and included brand tags and individual packaging [1].
The operation, code-named "Clean Sheet," ran from late May to early June 2026 [3, 4]. A truck driver was arrested at a border checkpoint linking Hong Kong to mainland China and Macao, while five others were caught over online sales [3, 4]. Chung warned, "Given that this year’s World Cup is the largest in history... smuggling of counterfeit products is expected to become more active" [3].
Hong Kong authorities said possession or sale of counterfeit goods carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and fines up to HK$500,000 (about $64,000) [4]. Officials briefed media on June 12 with further details on the seizures and enforcement [5, 6, 4]. Authorities flagged they will increase efforts to crack down on counterfeit World Cup merchandise [1, 2, 3].
