Charity Bashes Sports Firms Over Sweatshop Connections

Oxfam said while sportswear companies paid millions in sponsorship to the soccer players who will star at the tournament in Germany, the workers manufacturing their goods remained poorly paid and exploited.

In a report titled "Offside," Oxfam said the workers, mainly women living in impoverished areas of Asian nations such as Indonesia and Sri Lanka, often faced intimidation or even assault if they demanded better conditions.

Oxfam produced a league table of 12 leading sportswear manufacturers based on their labor practices but said none met minimum requirements.

"They would all receive a red card if they were on the field," report co-author Tim Connor told AFP. "In fact, if there was a world cup for companies that respect labor rights, the sports brands would not even get through the qualifying rounds."

Connor said the workers who made premium label sportswear retailing for top prices in High Street shops were often paid a basic wage of just 60 US cents (47 euro cents) a day.

He said such wages were not enough to cover basic needs and many workers worked 16 hour shifts to supplement their income with overtime.

Big names making improvements in conditions

Oxfam rated Reebok as the most labor-friendly manufacturer in Asia and said other big brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Umbro and Asics had made some improvements, such as stopping anti-union discrimination.

It said Mizuno, New Balance, Lotto, Kappa and Pentland -- which owns Speedo and Lacoste -- had shown some interest in improving workers' conditions but failed to provide evidence they were actually taking action to end sweatshops.

US-based brand FILA came last in the Oxfam rankings, with the charity saying it had the poorest record for looking after the people producing its goods and was least interested in improving conditions in its Asian supply factories.

Abused workers given no help by sports giant

The report cited a FILA sneaker supply factory in Indonesia where workers had reported high levels of sexual harassment that closed without warning last year and failed to pay employees their legal entitlements. It said FILA had done nothing to help the affected workers or force its contractor to honor its obligations.

Connor said sportswear companies over the past 20 years had subcontracted their manufacturing to factory operators in Asia to avoid taking responsibility for workers' conditions.

He said until recently the manufacturers had refused to even tell Oxfam where their factories were located but they were slowly becoming more transparent as pressure from public campaigns mounted.

"They try to blame any abuses on the subcontractors but only the manufacturers can improve conditions by providing the factory operators with long-term contracts without the demanding production schedules that lead to these abuses," he said.

World Cup stars should face up to moral responsibility

Connor said the highly-paid stars displaying their skills at the World Cup could also not escape their moral responsibility to the people who made their sporting gear.

"While it's ultimately the companies that must act to fix these problems, we would certainly welcome in-principle support from footballers," he said.