Football dreams stitched with children's hands.

Child labour and unfair labour conditions for adult stitchers in the football industry are still common practices, despite the fact that the contracts between FIFA and sporting goods companies promise the opposite. This was revealed by the Global March Against Child Labour in a presentation of three new reports on China, India and Pakistan.

Efforts to improve labour conditions through the monitoring and rehabilitation programs of FIFA, UNICEF, ILO and the sporting goods industry have thus far yielded only limited results, particularly in India and Pakistan, the key centres for football stitching. The hands of children are still employed to stitch footballs, even at the price of their education and often their health.

Adult football stitchers are still receiving less than the minimum wage, even though the footballs they stitch are sold for that much more. Women still face discrimination in wages, often earning five rupees less than men, since women are more likely to be home-based stitchers. A decided lack of freedom to organise and restrictions on personal freedom still pervade the multi-billion dollar football industry.

Source: Global March News Release -- 24 May 2002