Sports Firms Unite in Child Labor Project

Reebok, Nike and several other sporting goods companies formed a campaign Friday to stop the exploitation of Pakistani children who stitch together soccer balls for pennies a day.

A top executive, however, cautioned that the project won’t be truly effective until organizations that govern the sport outlaw all balls produced by children under the age of 14.

“Unless everyone is playing with a ball that’s free of child labor, this thing is a farce,” Reebok Chairman Paul Fireman said.

The World Federation of the Sports Goods Industry and the American-based Sporting Goods Manufacturing Assn. pledged that major ball makers will buy soccer balls produced in Pakistan only if they were not made by children. The project will be phased in over 18 months, and independent monitors will issue public reports on whether companies are complying.

The initiative also includes the International Labor Organization, the Soccer Industry Council of America, Pakistani manufacturers and major brand names such as Adidas, Brine, Franklin, Lotto, Mitre, Puma and Umbro.

“We know American consumers want soccer balls on their shelves that . . . were not manufactured with child labor,” SMGA President John Riddle said. “Now, soccer moms and soccer dads can call a telephone number ([888] NO-1-CHILD) and see what companies agreed to participate.”

About 75% of the world’s $1-billion soccer ball industry is centered in the villages around Sialkot, Pakistan. Child welfare organizations estimate that 7,000 to 10,000 Pakistani children under 14 stitch balls in homes and small shops, receiving little pay for working up to 10 hours a day.

The program, announced at the annual “Super Show” sporting goods trade convention, also aims to provide educational services to youngsters who are thrown out of work.

“We want to address the underlying social conditions that cause child labor,” Riddle said.

David Husselbee, director of Save the Children’s Pakistan office, said that the soccer ball industry is only a small part of the child labor issue worldwide and is hardly one of the most dangerous lines of work.

But, since most of the balls are stitched together in one area, it is an easier situation to tackle.

“Child labor is a colossal problem in Pakistan, and this is a good way to get involved,” Husselbee said. “We want to make sure that all homes and workshops that make soccer balls are registered, so we can ensure that children are not doing the work.”

North American and European soccer enthusiasts have been concerned since 1995 over reports that soccer balls were made by children. Last year, the U.S. government began a campaign to discourage Americans from buying child-made balls. The sport’s international governing body, the Federation Internationale de Football Assn., or FIFA, said it would not endorse soccer balls made by children.

Fireman challenged FIFA to go a step further and sanction for competition only those balls manufactured by companies in the program.

“They’re asking a lot of the manufacturers who make the balls,” Fireman said. “There’s a lot of complications when it comes to replacing labor and so forth, but that’s fine. We’re willing to do it. But for them, there is really no problem. All they have to do is certify their balls were not made by children.”

FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper said Fireman was simplifying the problem facing the world’s most popular sport, with about 200 million registered players around the world. Also, Cooper said, the vast majority of soccer balls are produced by companies that have signed on to the program.

“You have to be realistic,” he said. “To have 100% total assurance that a ball is not being made by child labor is logistically impossible. We can’t possibly control every last ball manufacturer.”