Italian soccer club Fiorentina have partnered with Genuino to use blockchain technology to identify official team shirts and stop counterfeiting. The tie up, which Fiorentina say is the first of its kind for a soccer club, was initially trialed last month, where shirts worn by players during Serie A games were fitted with a special chip and combined with a unique blockchain code to prove authenticity.

Further plans for the project will be presented at a world preview during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas later this month, ahead of an expected wider release for shirts featuring the technology.