Premier League champions Manchester City have issued a warning to Chilean fifth-tier outfit Santiago City FC over what they feel are similarities between the two sides' club crests.
Newly-formed Santiago City have yet to play an official match and are accused of confusing the public by having a badge that gives the impression they are part of the City Football Group (CFG).
City issued legal documentation to the Chilean side at the end of January 2022, claiming that "unauthorised use of trademark and characteristic design" had taken place.
What have Man City said?
According to Chilean publication El Deportivo, City, via their lawyers, sent the following request: "Our client has asked us to get in touch with you since they have noticed that you are using the team's crest."
The Premier League leaders reportedly requested a response by February 14, with City having made it clear that "no Chilean club is part of" the CFG, which includes sides from New York, Melbourne, Yokohama and Montevideo.
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Via their lawyers, City reportedly added that Santiago City has similarities with "the names of the City Football Group teams", although the primary concern was the graphical elements associated with the design of the badge.
And in demanding that Santiago City FC scrap the use of the crest, City warned, via their legal representatives, that the badge "cannot co-exist with the Manchester City trademarks and our client has the right to protect its position by enforcing its industrial property rights."
Who are Santiago City FC?
Santiago City FC were officially founded in 2020 and will enter the Tercera B league - the fifth tier of the Chilean football pyramid - in 2022.
The president of the club, Jorge Sotomayor, told Central Deportes when asked about the newly-formed team: "It is an ambitious project. We want to reach the highest category of Chilean football as soon as possible, but we have to go step by step."
Santiago City FC will play at the Municipal Stadium in Las Condes, with many of the squad made up of players under the age of 20 years old.
Sotomayor would go on to describe the club as the "Cinderella of Chilean football".
Santiago City FC explain their badge choice
Sotomayor added on the subject of the club's badge and the colours chosen: "We did a market study. In Chile there is no team that has black with pink, nor has it been seen in the history of Chilean soccer.
"There is no one like us. In the badge we show the modern Santiago. We belong to Santiago, from Pincoya to Puente Alto, from Las Condes to Vitacura, Maipu, Cerrillos etc.
"Our colours (pink) are a tribute for women, and those that suffer from breast cancer. Black is because there aren't any other team that plays in full black except Colo Colo. Some people say that we are like Inter Miami!"
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