June 7, 2010, by International Labor Rights Forum

This report presents the key findings of the International Labor Rights Forum’s research in the four largest soccer balls producing countries: Pakistan, India, China and Thailand. This report also highlights the current missteps of typical corporate social responsibility initiatives such as fair trade certification and factory monitoring where wages and temporary work must be transformed in order for labour rights to be realized by the many soccer ball production workers.

The report find that labour abusive practice across the soccer ball industry in Pakistan, India, China and Thailand includes the predominant use of precarious labour in the hand-stitched soccer ball industry, wage violation, health and safety violation, and lack of respect for freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively.

Finally, the problems identified and analysed in this report were not new. ILRF thinks that the way in which the soccer ball industry is constructed, the unequal relationship between buyers and suppliers, and other factors have often negated even the best efforts to fix the endemic problems that continue to plague this industry. Also, ILRF firmly believes that further research and dialogue among various stakeholders is absolutely crucial in order to have a real impact on the labour rights violation across the soccer ball industry.

Download the report here >>