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Statements from footballers' associations

Workers soccer team at the Solidarity Olympics These women previously worked in a Thai factory that supplied Nike, adidas, FILA and other companies. After the factory closed, they formed their own factory that produces goods for the Fair Trade market. They are shown here participating in the Workers’ Solidarity Olympics in Bangkok in August 2004. Photo: AsiaWorks.

Professional footballers' associations do a great job representing the rights of footballers and negotiating collective bargaining agreements protecting players’ interests. In contrast, Asian sportswear workers who want to form unions and bargain collectively frequently face discrimination, harassment, threats of dismissal and, in some cases, violent intimidation.

Oxfam wrote to a number of professional footballers' associations and requested statements about the importance of sports industry workers being allowed to form unions and bargain collectively. Here are some of their replies: