The Cleveland Indians' championship merchandise will reportedly be destroyed instead of given away to charity as is usual with the merchandise of World Series losers.
Typically championship merchandise for teams playing in the such events as the World Series, NFL Super Bowl, NBA Finals, and NHL's Stanley Cup are pre-printed, with the clothing of the losing team being donated to charities for distribution to developing nations.
But Matt Bourne, the vice president of business public relations for Major League Baseball, told The Huffington Post it will not do the same with Cleveland Indians merchandise this year.
"In past years we have used World Vision, but we have moved our policy to destroying the merchandise," Bourne said. "The reason is to protect the team from inaccurate merchandise being available or visible in the general marketplace."
Major League Baseball has asked retailers to give back Indians championship gear so it can be disposed of, ESPN reported.
World Vision in the past have distributed such gear to Zambia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Armenia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Mongolia, Uganda, Burundi, Congo, Mali, and Rwanda.
"Over several years World Vision has accepted hundreds of official shirts and caps from the sporting world immediately following big events," Jim Fischerkeller, senior director of corporate engagement, said in a statement, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Some experts have expressed concern that exported clothes from the United States to developing countries could harm local clothing markets there, The Huffington Post reported. Fischerkeller responded that they have tried to accommodate those concerns.
"The apparel items that we send have all been requested by our staff in the field as part of a larger relief and development strategy," Fischerkeller told The Huffington Post. "Fulfilling the basic need for clothing enables vital resources to be directed towards other life essentials, such as clean water, health services and education."