Workers making official football shirts for some of the world’s biggest clubs are paid a basic wage of less than £1 an hour, a BBC Sport investigation has found, after authentic replica kits were traced to two factories in Cambodia where conditions were described as “grim”.
The shirts were tracked to Bowker Garment Factory, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, and to Trax Apparel around 10 miles to the east. Between them the two sites produce kits for clubs including Arsenal, Celtic, Liverpool and Real Madrid. Bowker employs about 3,400 people, most of them women, while more than 80% of Trax Apparel’s 3,200-strong workforce are women. Photographs obtained from inside Bowker show mannequins displaying Benfica, Aston Villa and Celtic kits beneath an Adidas logo.
Fabric is imported from Thailand and Vietnam, a specialist tailor produces a sample for other employees to follow, and much of the shirt-making — sewing, ironing and packaging — then takes place inside the factories. Staff typically work six eight-hour shifts a week, and five payslips seen by the BBC show basic monthly salaries of $210-$220 (£158-£166). Those salaries comply with local minimum-wage laws, and three of the payslips indicate total monthly earnings of about $300 (£226) once overtime and allowances are included, although that comes with significant extra hours worked.
Employees described the pressure of life on the production line. In rare interviews, supported by documentary evidence and published anonymously, workers detailed factory temperatures above 35C, verbal abuse when targets were missed, and safety concerns about electrical equipment. One photograph taken inside Bowker shows a thermometer reading 35.2C with humidity of 57.6%. “The heat stress is really taking a toll on our health,” said an employee on the ironing line.
Staff at both factories said they were pushed to meet group production targets of between 300 and 700 items a day. “When we can’t complete the quota they scold and yell at us and tell us to resign,” said one Bowker worker, who also said they had received two electric shocks from an exposed wire and that action was only taken after the second incident. A colleague described struggling to make ends meet: “It’s hard to live with this amount,” she said, explaining that little was left after rent, food and utilities. A Trax worker added: “I want international customers to hear that one shirt they buy costs more than two weeks’ salary for a worker. Every one of these shirts contains the sweat of Cambodian workers.”
Trax told the BBC its average monthly employee earnings range from $305-$342 (£230-£258) this year. Adidas said average net wages across a sample of its Cambodian suppliers were 34% above the Anker Research Institute’s living-wage benchmark, adding that staff were “usually paid considerably higher than the local minimum wage”. Bowker did not respond to a request for comment.
Adidas does not own either factory, but both are primary suppliers subject to its workplace standards. The company supplies eight of the 20 Premier League clubs. It said: “We have taken a variety of measures to ensure fair and safe working conditions for workers across our supply chain for more than 25 years. Through around 1,200 factory audits per year, we review and evaluate supplier conduct, work with suppliers to address issues and make improvements where necessary.” Adidas also said both factories had “heat-management measures”, that its standards “do not permit any form of harassment”, and that “no electrical-related accidents” had been found in Bowker’s records. Trax acknowledged “periods of elevated temperature” but said cooling systems were in place and insisted its approach “is not based on enforcing output targets”.
The Clean Clothes Campaign, a global workers’ rights network, said the findings painted a “very grim picture”. “These are issues that many garment workers around the world face every day,” added spokesperson Emma Vogt. A 2024 International Labour Organization report found 69% of factories had issues with heat and 84% with worker protection, and similar problems have been reported across Cambodia’s garment industry.
The investigation followed the supply chain after fans told the BBC they were frustrated by rising prices, with many turning to cheaper counterfeits instead. Research published last year suggested that of a typical £85 shirt, £8.50 covers fabric, sewing and shipping, £37.45 goes to the retailer, £16.25 to the manufacturer, £9.50 on marketing and £13.60 in VAT. Arsenal shirts retail for £85, rising to £120 for the specification worn by players. One Aston Villa supporter said he had just paid £95 for a shirt complete with a Champions League badge, adding: “You buy your season ticket. Three shirts, that’s around £300 on top. It’s ridiculous.” An Arsenal fan said kits had become an increasing expense now that he was buying them for young children.
The average price of an adult replica Premier League shirt has risen by 50.7% over the past decade, helping fuel demand for counterfeits sold for as little as £12, many of which originate from China. Fans have been warned against buying fakes, with police saying they can be manufactured without regard for safety standards or workers’ rights, and Trading Standards warning that counterfeiters “have no morals and no standards”.
Adidas supplies eight of the 20 Premier League clubs, plus Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Nike, which supplies three top-flight clubs as well as England, has produced football shirts in Thailand and Vietnam and more recently Georgia; it does not publish salary data by country but said 71% of its key suppliers pay at or above living-wage benchmarks relevant to their location. Hummel, which also provides kit to three Premier League sides, did not respond to the enquiry. None of the clubs named in the investigation responded to a request for comment. The Premier League expects clubs to carry out appropriate due diligence on their kit manufacturers and supply chains.
Anna Bryher of the UK campaign group Labour Behind the Label said: “Respect has got to be a baseline in sport. Clubs need to send a really strong message that they won’t put their name on a shirt if workers are not treated with respect.” Dave Welsh of The Solidarity Center, a US-based workers’ rights organisation, said of the mark-up on football jerseys: “It’s hard to imagine a more lucrative brand market.” Former Puma and Umbro kit designer Rob Warner argued the economics behind shirt prices are more complex, telling BBC Sport last year that “a lot of the profit margin is made by the retailer because they’re so dependent on the success of the team… it’s a risk”, and pointing to the rising cost of kit deals with elite clubs.