One of the most historic teams in world soccer has been implicated in a price-fixing scandal centered on branded merchandise.

Glasgow, Scotland-based Rangers Football Club is accused of conspiring with JD Sports and Elite Sports to illegally inflate prices on short-sleeved replica Rangers-branded shirts between September 2018 and at least mid-November 2018, according to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the United Kingdom’s fair competition regulator.

CMA asserts the alleged collusion was part of a longer-running price-doctoring scheme in which JD and Elite, both sports-focused retailers, collaborated illicitly to elevate prices on Rangers-branded swag from September 2018 until at least July 2019.

Regulators claim the retailers broke competition law by setting prices of replica kits £5 higher (about $6.30) than they should have been.

JD and Elite have reportedly confessed to “cartel activity” and are asking authorities for leniency. Such steps could potentially reduce the size of possible fines.

The Telegraph reported that JD has established a cash well of £2m (about $2.52 million) to pay for potential legal costs and penalties. Rangers have not admitted any wrongdoing, telling The Telegraph that the CMA findings are “provisional” and do not establish that the club has “broken the law and that the CMA will issue a final decision or impose a fine on Rangers.”

As part of its findings, CMA alleges that the accused colluded to ensure a £60 (about $75) Rangers shirt wasn’t less expensive at JD Sports than it was at Elite’s online Rangers merch store. JD and Elite allegedly set up discounts toward the end of the 2019 soccer season to protect profits and prevent competition with each other.

Founded in 1872, Rangers is said to be the fourth oldest soccer club in Scotland – and one of the oldest in the world. Rangers have won more Scottish league titles than any other club – 55.

Financial difficulties saw the team drop into insolvency in 2012, resulting in relegation to Scotland’s third division of competition, but the club clawed its way back to the Scottish Premiership – the country’s highest tier of competition. In May 2022, Rangers made headlines by reaching the Europa League Final, where the team was beaten on penalties by Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt.