Whatever recognition Panama’s soccer team brings to its  World Cup sponsors, short of an unanticipated giant killer performance against  one  or more of its three  opening-round opponents  it has already put the New Balance brand  in front of scores of thousands of fans, and others  because of a price war leading to an investigation of retail giant Walmart.

The investigation is over the unauthorized sale of the Panama team shirt at a  below the "recommended" retail price says the Boston based New Balance company.

"Recently, we have learned of the existence of a third party that is marketing the alleged t-shirts of Panama through the Walmart marketplace, at a price significantly lower than our suggested price," the transnational said in a statement distributed Wednesday in the Panama capital.

The statement  added: "This seller is not authorized by New Balance", and t the issue is being taken  very seriously and at this moment… there is an "investigation process".

The company said it  has always recommended to that fans purchase of our t-shirts through authorized sellers in order to guarantee the authenticity of our products."

The official shirt that Panama will wear at its first  World Cup appearance sells for about $90, while the ones offered through Walmart in he US  costs around $50 or which has drawn criticism from Panama fans and sent them scurrying to online purchases.

Meanwhile, customs authorities have been cracking down on  "pirated”  shirts in Panama most of them from Peru.

The Walmart picing was "viralized" through social networks in recent days … not quite the reaction the New Balance company .had paid for

"At New Balance, we take our relationship with FEPAFUT ( The Panama  Football Federation) very seriously and, more importantly, with all the Panamanian fans," the firm said  and pointed out

It said that during the past four years,e it has supported “the National Team of Panama, along with the women's football team, the U23 players and the Beach Soccer and Futsal  teams in tournaments  around the world.

New Balance employs more than 6,000 people worldwide and in 2017 recorded global sales of $4 billion.