Japanese Club Shonan Bellmare Issue Extraordinary Apology After Leaking Their Own 26-27 Kit
, by Chris
- Kit Leak Incident: Japanese club Shonan Bellmare accidentally leaked their 2026-27 season kits and new supplier details on their official online store for about 11 hours due to an error in product display settings.
- Extraordinary Apology: Shonan Bellmare issued a formal and detailed public apology, describing the leak as "an extremely serious matter" caused by organizational operational issues and committing to strengthen information management and governance.
- Official Kit Reveal: Despite the prior leak, Shonan Bellmare officially announced Umbro as their new kit supplier and revealed their 2026-27 kits two days after the initial accidental exposure.
In uncommon fashion, Japanese club Shonan Bellmare has issued a formal apology after accidentally leaking their own 26-27 kit and new supplier information online.
Shonan Bellmare Releases Statement After Leaking Own Kit
As per the statement released by the club, product images of the new 26-27 season uniforms, including details of the club's new kit supplier, were visible on the Shonan Bellmare official online store from around 8pm on Friday June 26 until around 7am on Saturday June 27 - a total of around 11 hours - due to an error in the product display settings. The Japanese club described the incident as "an extremely serious matter" that cannot be attributed to individual errors but represents "a major issue in organizational operations, including information management and verification processes."
The apology, signed by club President and Representative Director Tetsuya Kumode, also acknowledged that this is not the first time Shonan Bellmare have caused inconvenience to their fans through misprints and insufficient verification in the club's information management. The club stated it will promptly review and implement new information management systems and dissemination flows, while "thoroughly strengthening governance and addressing recurrence prevention with a strong sense of crisis."
Accidental kit leaks via online store errors have become increasingly common across world football, but we are not aware of any club that has responded with such a formal and detailed public apology as Shonan Bellmare.
Shonan Bellmare Announce Umbro Deal & Reveal 2026-27 Kits
Two days later, today, Shonan Bellmare officially released their 2026-2027 kits.
What do you think of the club's extraordinary response to leaking their own 26-27 kit? Let us know in the comments below.