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The Grisly Truth Behind Soccer Ball Manufacturing

October 4, 2008 by Katie Bezrouch · 5 Comments
Filed under: Economy, Politics, Sports 

In a country like India where half of the population lives below the line of poverty, it seems to be pretty easy for big companies to exploit the inhabitants. Each year millions of soccer balls are produced and distributed to nations all over the globe, mostly from third world to first. Although India isn’t anywhere near being the primary exporter of soccer balls, it has still managed to draw a lot of attention to the industry. A recent report on Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel exposed the brutal conditions children endure while producing this common sports item.

Soccer ball manufacturing generally starts at the contractor’s factory where the pieces of leather are printed and cut into small segments. Most of the time those materials are then assembled at the same factory, packaged, and sent to the retailer. However, in some cases the raw materials are packed and handed to middlemen who distribute them to local families, and this is when this situation becomes troublesome. Read more