The Premier League is THE most popular football league in the world right now. There is little debating that. As per research, the league boasts an annual viewing audience of 4.7 billion. The likes of La Liga, Serie A or Ligue 1 are not even close to matching those numbers.
This isn’t that surprising knowing how the Premier League has developed its reputation for being ‘the most entertaining league’ in the world in recent decades.
Moreover, it’s also the home to the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal – four of the most popular football clubs in the world.
Because of its sheer popularity and reach, the league has almost become ‘mainstream’ in terms of the general population’s knowledge of it.
The majority of worldwide football fans are well aware of all the teams playing in the Premier League, including those at the lower end of the table as well.
Even those teams who were promoted into the league this season – which are AFC Bournemouth, Fulham and Nottingham Forest – are known by more football fans around the world than the newly promoted teams from other major European leagues.
While the Premier League clubs be inspirational for other teams in minor football leagues around the world, that doesn’t really give anyone the opportunity to blatantly copy their entire model.
One football club from Bangladesh doesn’t seem to have received this memo and has left fans in bits by completely ripping off the design of Bournemouth.
AFC Uttara – who play in the Bangladesh Premier League (the first division of the Bangladesh club football structure – have not even tried to be smart in hiding their blatant copy of AFC Bournemouth’s logo. The Bangladeshi club’s logo is basically a cut and copy of the Premier League side.
No way is there a team in the Bangladesh Premier League with a rip off AFC Bournemouth badge. Incredible. Up the AFCU 🍒 #afcbpic.twitter.com/Dpcvq93Oqc
Bournemouth’s logo has a cherry red and black color design with a player juggling a football on their head. Uttara’s logo has that exactly similar look to it.
The only ‘change’ they have made is to replace the black outer layer with a green outer layer, representing the colors of their club.
It’s almost funny how blatant this total rip-off is and it doesn’t appear that AFC Uttara wanted to be discreet with copying Bournemouth’s logo design.
Considering that they play in the Bangladesh Football League, which doesn’t really have much viewership outside of their country, they haven’t really been charged for it either.
Bournemouth could possibly take legal action against the club and force them to change the logo as they’re using something of their own. But they are unlikely to do so, as they are probably not ever going to notice it in the first place and wouldn’t want to dampen a small-time football club either.
Bangladesh are still quite backward in football, but at least has some representation in the top tier of English football as former Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhary – who is half-Bangladeshi – represented the country.
AFC Uttara will hope they never get a call for a friendly game or anything from Bournemouth because things could get really awkward if anyone has to put their logos side-by-side in a game.
