Prices within the booming sports activities memorabilia market present no signal of slowing. But how do collectors spending 1000’s – and even thousands and thousands – of kilos know they’re shopping for the real article?

When the hammer went down on Michael Jordan’s No. 23 jersey from the opening recreation of the 1998 NBA Finals, the $10.1m (£8.8m) value made headlines throughout the globe.

Soaring just like the Chicago Bulls legend himself, the determine towered above the earlier excessive of £7.1m set simply months earlier for Diego Maradona’s so-called “Hand of God” soccer shirt.

While only a few folks may ever ponder battling for these explicit objects, the broader market continues to thrive with 1000’s of items of equipment and gear traded yearly by public sale homes, specialist web sites and personal collectors.

Months, years and many years later, although, how straightforward is it to verify a shirt or pair of trainers belonged to a specific participant and what occurs when possession of an merchandise is disputed?

Earlier this month a shirt mentioned to have been worn by footballer Jim Baxter when Scotland defeated world champions England at Wembley in 1967 was withdrawn from sale by Glasgow auction house McTear’s after two different events claimed jerseys they personal are the truth is the true deal.

And Maradona’s household tried to halt the sale of the Hand of God shirt final yr alleging it was not the one the star had been carrying within the second-half of Argentina’s 1986 World Cup quarter-final, additionally towards England, when he scored two of probably the most well-known targets of all time.

Sotheby’s mentioned “remarkable provenance” – a report of the place the merchandise had come from – proved that declare was with out benefit.

Swapped with England midfielder Steve Hodge, the alternate had been described intimately by each gamers in subsequent books, with the jersey displayed on the National Football Museum for practically 20 years.

Photo-matching specialists had been additionally in a position to present “conclusive” outcomes by inspecting distinctive particulars reminiscent of patches, stripes and numbering.

Sotheby’s chief science officer reviewed these outcomes to present an additional stage of affirmation, a spokeswoman defined.

Trying to construct an image of an merchandise’s historical past is usually a “minefield”, says David Convery, head of sporting memorabilia at Northamptonshire-based Graham Budd Auctions.

“As specialists, there are a lot of methods we use for shirts – little details the public might not be aware of – as we go through the verification process.

“Proving it’s the hardest factor to do. In most instances although we begin with the seller. Is it an ex-player or member of the family?”

Even with decades of experience – including working at Christie’s where he helped sell Pele’s Brazil shirt from the second-half of the 1970 World Cup final for almost £160,000 – Convery says there are times where help is enlisted from private collectors who specialise in a particular area.

Altogether, such analysis results in “tons of and tons of of things” being rejected each week having failed to pass the company’s verification checks.

“One factor I’ve actually discovered is to not take anybody’s phrase,” says his colleague Adam Gascoigne, Graham Budd’s chief executive officer.

“It might be harmless – not all the things is any person making an attempt to faux one thing – however particulars get misplaced within the mists of time.

“I’ve seen numerous examples of players [mistakenly] having it in their head it’s a shirt they wore in a particular a game, especially the 70s and 80s when there wasn’t really a memorabilia market and people didn’t pay much attention [to what they had or where they kept it afterwards].”

For Gascoigne, “transparency” is essential. He believes bidders ought to really feel assured by the steps respected corporations take however advises they at all times learn listings rigorously and do further analysis.

“We’re obviously trying to describe something accurately and if we can’t prove it’s a match shirt, we won’t say it is.

“When you are coping with tons of or 1000’s of tons errors do occur. We’ll decide up the overwhelming majority earlier than they get to public sale, however often one thing will pop up.

“Where values increase, the temptation to fake things is obviously greater, particularly with autographs. It’s well documented how many fake Muhammed Ali signatures there were in the 90s and 2000s.

“Items themselves are harder. I wish to suppose we’re at all times on our guard.

“I don’t think [problems with auction houses are] particularly common if you consider how many lots a year must be sold. Many sales are also done privately and through online marketplaces like eBay. That’s a bit of a murky area.

“I can solely discuss from our perspective. If there’s any ambiguity then it is best to take the merchandise down till it is resolved.”

Once such instance occurred last year when the firm withdrew a shirt billed as worn by Sergio Aguero when he scored his famous injury-time winner on the final day of the season to give Manchester City the 2011-12 Premier League title.

The reasons behind the decision have not been made public.

“It’s actually troublesome to touch upon that one,” Gascoigne says. “I feel the perfect factor I can say is a few data got here to gentle and that it was higher to take the merchandise down.

“There was a lot of disappointment and it was unfortunate it got to that point, but you can only deal with the information when you get it.

“[Neville’s is] an exceptional assortment. He loans memorabilia to the National Football Museum and he is a long-standing consumer. When folks of that standing have one thing, it is a severe merchandise. It’s not simply somebody you’ve got by no means heard of.”

Mr Evans did not respond to a request for comment.

Ultimately, Convery says, any doubts about the wider market would end up damaging firms’ reputations and – as they take commission – their bottom line.

“To see this stuff is wonderful. I’m most likely the one Scotsman to have held a World Cup medal from each event in addition to 9 of the 11 [initially] given to the 1966 England crew.

“We want to see things be as right as they can possibly be then customers can buy with confidence.

“With such excessive values, folks must get it right. That’s for certain.”