Investigation Reveals Low Pay and Harsh Conditions at Factories Making Arsenal, Liverpool and Real Madrid Shirts

A BBC Sport investigation has found that workers in Cambodia earn a basic wage of less than £1 an hour making official football shirts for some of the world's biggest clubs.

The reporters traced authentic replica shirts to two factories, Bowker Garment Factory and Trax Apparel. Images from inside show kits being made for Arsenal, Celtic, Liverpool and Real Madrid. 

Workers described the conditions as hard, and the Clean Clothes Campaign, a global workers' rights network, said the findings paint a "very grim picture". 

Spokesperson Emma Vogt added: "These are issues that many garment workers around the world face every day."

Staff in both factories spoke in rare interviews, which are published anonymously and backed by documents. They said temperatures rise above 35C, that they are shouted at when targets are missed, and that they worry about unsafe electrical equipment. 

A photo taken inside Bowker showed a thermometer reading 35.2C with humidity at 57.6%. "The heat stress is really taking a toll on our health," said one worker on the ironing line.

Staff usually work six eight-hour shifts a week. Five payslips seen by the BBC show basic monthly pay of $210 to $220 (£158 to £166), which meets local minimum wage laws. 

Three of the payslips show total earnings of about $300 (£226) a month once overtime and allowances are added, but that comes with a lot of extra hours. 

"It's hard to live with this amount," said one Bowker worker, who said she had little left after rent, food and bills. A worker at Trax said: "I want international customers to hear that one shirt they buy costs more than two weeks' salary for a worker."

Workers said they face group targets of 300 to 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. 

The same person said they got two electric shocks from an exposed wire and that action was only taken after the second. 

Another worker said: "If one shirt sells for $120 (£90) in the store, how much are they pulling in from 600 of them? They make a ton of money but give almost nothing to the workers."

Adidas does not own either factory, but both are main suppliers bound by its workplace standards. The company supplies eight of the 20 Premier League clubs. It said it has worked for more than 25 years to ensure fair and safe conditions and carries out around 1,200 factory audits a year. 

It said average net wages across a sample of its Cambodian suppliers are 34% above the Anker Research Institute's living-wage benchmark, and that staff are "usually paid considerably higher than the local minimum wage". 

It also said both factories have heat-management measures, that its standards "do not permit any form of harassment", and that it found "no electrical-related accidents" in Bowker's records.

Trax said its average monthly earnings range from $305 to $342 (£230 to £258) this year. It admitted "periods of elevated temperature" but said it has cooling systems and that its approach "is not based on enforcing output targets". Bowker did not respond.

About 3,400 people, mostly women, work at Bowker on the edge of Phnom Penh. Another 3,200 work at Trax, around 10 miles east, where more than 80% of staff are women. Similar problems are common across Cambodia's garment industry. 

A 2024 International Labour Organization report found 69% of factories had heat problems and 84% had issues with worker protection.

The investigation began after fans said they were fed up with rising prices, with many turning to cheaper fakes. The average price of an adult replica Premier League shirt has gone up 50.7% in the past decade, and counterfeits sell for as little as £12, many made in China. Police have warned that fakes can be made "without regard for safety standards or workers' rights".

Research published last year suggested that of a typical £85 shirt, £8.50 covers fabric, sewing and shipping. The retailer gets £37.45, the manufacturer £16.25, marketing takes £9.50 and VAT is £13.60. Arsenal's latest home shirt was released in May, but the BBC was sent photos showing it inside Trax months earlier.

Fans spoke about the cost. A Villa supporter who paid £95 for his shirt, including a Champions League badge, said: "You buy your season ticket. Three shirts, that's around £300 on top. It's ridiculous." An Arsenal fan with young children said: "They're not cheap if you get the official ones."

Industry voices say the picture is complicated. Dave Welsh of The Solidarity Center said: "The mark-up on football jerseys... it's hard to imagine a more lucrative brand market." 

Former Puma and Umbro designer Rob Warner said retailers take much of the margin because they depend on the team's success, and that brands are trying to recover the rising fees they pay elite clubs.

Nike supplies three Premier League clubs and England, with shirts made in Thailand, Vietnam and more recently Georgia. 

It said 71% of its key suppliers pay at or above living-wage benchmarks. Hummel, which kits out three Premier League sides, did not reply. None of the clubs named responded, and the Premier League expects clubs to carry out proper checks on their kit makers and supply chains.

Anna Bryher of Labour Behind the Label said: "Respect has got to be a baseline in sport." She added: "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."