Elite Sports Group seeking £9.5m from Rangers over kit sales appoints administrators

Elite Sports Group – the sportswear brand seeking £9.5m in compensation from Rangers over the sale of kits – has filed for administration.

In documents lodged with Companies House, the firm announced that Kroll Advisory Limited, which was previously Duff & Phelps Limited until being renamed in 2021, had been appointed as administrators.

The company was placed in administration on November 24 by Close Brothers – a day after lawyers acting for Elite Sports Group succeeded in an attempt to discover how many kits had been made by a rival and sold to fans.

Elite has been the exclusive brand partner to Danish sportswear firm Hummel, who were the manufacturer of Rangers’ kits for two seasons between 2018 and 2020.

Lawyers acting for the company claimed in court that the club had breached a contract which allowed it to provide Rangers with kits.

According to Elite Sports Group, the breach occurred when Rangers signed a deal with Castore, which was officially confirmed in May 2020.

At the Court of Session in Edinburgh last month, David Thomson KC, acting for Elite Sports Group, argued that his clients should be granted access to how many kits made by Castore had been sold.

He told Lord Braid that he and his colleagues required the information to allow them to prepare their case and to evaluate how much they should claim for.

Gavin MacColl KC, acting for Rangers FC, asked Lord Braid not to grant permission for the Castore sale figures to be released.

He said that the deals between the two companies differed in nature, meaning that the figures could not be released.