Cincinnati CBP’s operation ‘Protect the Pitch’ intercepts counterfeit FIFA World Cup 2026™ merchandise

CINCINNATI — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Cincinnati conducted an operation “Protect the Pitch,” focusing on Intellectual Property Rights infringing shipments of wearing apparel, footwear, and other items that depict protected trademarks of national soccer federation and apparel manufacturers.

From June 1-5, officers seized 68 shipments of counterfeit FIFA World Cup 2026™ jerseys, shirts, shorts, footwear, hats, jewelry, and other merchandise. In total, officers intercepted 2,589 items that–if genuine–would have had a combined manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $266,566. These actions protect American consumers and businesses from intellectual property rights violations.

“It’s a shame criminals are preying on soccer fans and using the World Cup as a means to steal money from consumers,” said Cincinnati Port Director Eric Zizelman. “It happens around all the major sporting events, whether it be the Super Bowl, World Series, or in this case the World Cup. Counterfeiters use these events to flood the market with knockoffs and cheap imitations just to make a buck while businesses and the American consumer pay the price.”

CBP organized Operation Protect the Pitch using intelligence gathering and analysis of past trends before major events.

Previous IPR operations related to the sports industries have produced hundreds of seizures of jerseys, shirts, hats, shorts, pants, footwear, and other counterfeit items. During this operation Cincinnati CBP focused on shipments headed to the areas of Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco/Bay Area, and Seattle, as these are the U.S. locations hosting matches during FIFA World Cup 2026™. Similar operations across the country have resulted in the seizure of thousands of items infringing on intellectual property rights.

The seized shipments included 1,563 FIFA World Cup 2026™ jerseys, 306 pairs of shorts, 200 pairs of footwear, 150 hats, 80 shirts, and 290 other FIFA World Cup 2026™ related items. Most shipments originated from Mexico and Colombia and were destined for locations across the United States.

In the first week of match play, CBP has made over 1,400 seizures relating to the FIFA World Cup, totaling over $23 million in MSRP had the goods been genuine. CBP's seizure of fake goods is more than protecting intellectual property rights. It's protecting economic security, preventing proceeds from reaching the hands of criminal organizations, and stopping an illegal enterprise from profiting off forced labor.

CBP encourages consumers to shop from reputable online sources. E-commerce sales have contributed to large volumes of low-value, small packages being imported into the United States. Over 90% of all counterfeit seizures occur in the international mail and express environments, which are channels for small, e-commerce packages destined for the U.S. Many of these shipments contain counterfeit goods that pose the same health, safety, and economic security risks as large, containerized shipments.

To learn more about what CBP is doing every day to protect Americans from counterfeit goods, and more about the Truth Behind Counterfeits public awareness campaign, please visit the The Truth Behind Counterfeits webpage.

CBP protects the intellectual property rights of American businesses through an aggressive Intellectual Property Rights enforcement program, safeguarding them from unfair competition and malicious intent while upholding American innovation and ingenuity. Suspected violations can be reported to CBP via the e-Allegations Program webpage.

Intellectual property rights violations can be reported to the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center or by telephone at 1-866-IPR-2060.

Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Florida stop illegal activity and facilitate lawful commerce into and out of the United States.

Follow CBP on X @CBPChicago and X @DFOChicago. Visit CBP’s YouTube channel to learn more about how CBP’s Office of Field Operations secures our nation’s borders.