Hundreds of stakeholders, including from the Premier League and law enforcement authorities, came together at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday to hear from industry experts, develop key working relationships, and see first-hand the difference between official merchandise and fake goods. Representatives from Homeland Security Investigations and the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation spoke at the event, as did experts from the China-Britain Business Council.

Last season the Premier League’s Anti-Counterfeiting Programme seized more than 160,000 fake items worth over £5 million. That takes the total value of counterfeit goods physically recovered by the Programme to more than £30 million.

The action continues online, too, with more than 270,000 marketplace listings removed by the Premier League last season. This figure doesn’t include similar work down by clubs and shirt manufacturers.

A spokesperson for the Premier League said: ‘We have made huge developments in tackling counterfeiting in football since creating our programme. No fan should feel the disappointment of purchasing inferior quality fake products.

‘Working together with the clubs, our partners and law enforcement, we are committed to reducing the sale and distribution of counterfeit products around the world, and Football Against Fakes is an important part of that.’