Investigation: Official football shirts made by workers paid less than £1 an hour

A BBC Sport investigation has revealed that workers at garment factories in Cambodia are being paid a basic wage of less than £1 an hour to produce official football shirts for some of the world's biggest clubs. The investigation traced the supply chain to factories where conditions were described as grim.

Images obtained from inside the Bowker Garment Factory and Trax Apparel confirm the production of kits for clubs including Arsenal, Celtic, Liverpool, and Real Madrid. Employees reported working up to 700 items per day, often in temperatures exceeding 35C.

This investigation highlights the disparity between the retail price of jerseys and the wages of those manufacturing them. While official shirts can cost over £100, the production costs represent only a small fraction of the final price, with the bulk of profits going to retailers, marketing, and the expensive kit deals signed by elite clubs.

Sportswear giant Adidas, which supplies many of these clubs, stated that it conducts hundreds of factory audits annually to ensure compliance with its workplace standards. However, labor rights campaigners argue that current wages in the industry often fail to provide a dignified standard of living for workers, despite meeting local minimum wage requirements.