05/05/2026
The official World Cup match ball retails for up to £130. The workers making it in Pakistan earn as little as £26 a week.
An investigation by The Sun has revealed that production staff at the factory manufacturing the Adidas Trionda, the official ball for this summer's World Cup, are being paid Pakistan's minimum wage of 40,000 Pakistani Rupees a month, which works out at roughly £106.
The Trionda is the most expensive official tournament football ever produced. It features the colours from the flags of host nations the United States, Canada and Mexico. Around ten million of the balls are being churned out by manufacturer Forward Group at their plant in Sialkot in the Punjab region, which is understood to employ around 20,000 workers. Prices range from £13 for a mini version up to £130 for the professional match ball.
Campaigner Anna Bryher, policy lead at UK pressure group Labour Behind the Label, said the fact that these footballs retail for over £100 while the children of the people making them can't afford to buy one represents a clear failure of accountability. She called on Adidas and FIFA to take responsibility for their full supply chains and ensure all workers receive pay that allows them to live with dignity.
Trade unionist Asif Khan of the Pakistan Workers Federation confirmed that new workers typically start at around 40,000 Rupees a month, with longer-serving staff earning between 45,000 and 50,000 Rupees. He said the situation has improved compared to previous decades when child labour and exploitation of women workers were widespread, but added that some of those problems have shifted to neighbouring districts. He said he continues to fight labour rights cases in the courts.
Adidas responded by saying they ensure all products are manufactured under fair and safe working conditions, including fair wages. They said they carry out over 1,000 on-site inspections per year and that a skilled worker at one of their Pakistani suppliers earns a comparable income to a local school teacher. They said they have taken measures for more than 25 years to ensure fair conditions across their supply chain.
Forward Group managing director Hassan Khawaja told The Sun that the large majority of the workforce are semi-skilled workers receiving significantly above minimum wage, with less than one percent working at the national minimum. He said staff work a maximum of eight hours a day and that he is proud to help produce the Trionda.
FIFA said they had nothing to add beyond the comments made by Adidas.
Sialkot produces around 70 percent of all the world's footballs and has been at the centre of sweatshop and child labour scandals for years. While conditions have improved, the gap between what fans pay for the ball and what workers earn to make it remains enormous.
