A CHINESE factory that was making the official mascots for the 2010 soccer World Cup in South Africa has been ordered to stop producing the merchandise because its working conditions resemble those of a sweatshop.
Global Brands Group (GBG), Fifa’s branding firm, confirmed on Tuesday that Shanghai Fashion Plastic Products had been told to temporarily halt production of Zakumi, the tournament’s dreadlocked leopard mascot, until its working conditions improved.
Reports in January that the company’s factory in Shanghai employed under-age workers on 13-hour shifts paying about €2.50 a shift prompted an GBG investigation. “The audit identified a number of non-conformances against Global Brands CSR [corporate social responsibility] policy,” the company said in a statement. Shanghai Fashion denied the allegations.