Human Rights: Soccer Balls

How much did that soccer ball cost that you kick around a field during gym class? The price doesn't matter much, but a good soccer ball costs between $100 and $200.  Of course, you can get cheaper balls, but that doesn't matter.

Most likely that soccer ball, regardless of the cost, was stitched together using child or debt labor.

A child in Pakistan stitches together a Nike soccer ball.  Wall Street Journal.

Back in 1996, Life magazine ran a story about child labor in Nike factories, featuring the photograph above.  This touched off a firestorm of controversy.  Sadly, not much has changed in regard to conditions in these factories.

"Debt bondage" is a form of forced labor that is akin to slavery.  In order to pay off a debt, a person is forced to work with addition months added as a form of interest, making the debt virtually unpayable.  Often, children are placed into debt bondage in order to help a family pay off a debt.

FACTS ABOUT THE SOCCER BALL INDUSTRY

• Nearly 1/2 of the world's soccer balls are made in Sialkot, Pakistan
• There are 650 stitches in 1 soccer ball
• It is estimated that 1/4 of the 35 million soccer balls made in Pakistan are made by children under the age of 14
• In India, where it is technically illegal to keep children from going to school, tens of thousands of children work in the soccer ball industry, working 10-15 hours a day stitching together soccer balls
• In India, the work is done at home, making child labor "invisible"
• Children as young as 6 years old have been found stitching soccer balls
• Children earn roughly 15¢ for every ball they stitch together.  It takes about 4 hours to stitch on ball.

A woman sews soccer balls in Pakistan. Wall Street Journal.

Sources

"Poor children made to stitch sports balls in sweatshops"
Products of Slavery
In Pakistan, The World Capital Of Soccer Ball Production