Adidas is investigating allegations of large-scale bribery in China after the German sportswear maker received a whistleblower complaint that accused senior staff of embezzling “millions of euros”, according to a report by the Financial Times.
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The anonymous letter claims to have been written by “employees of Adidas China” and was also briefly shared this month on Chinese social media platform, Xiaohongshu. The document names several Chinese Adidas employees including a senior manager involved with Adidas’s marketing budget in the country,
The letter alleged that Adidas staff received bribes from external service providers who were commissioned by the German group.
A second senior Adidas manager, who works in a different division in China, is accused of having received “millions in cash from suppliers, and physical items such as real estate,” according to the letter obtained by the Financial Times.
Adidas has confirmed that it had received a letter on June 7 alerting it to “potential compliance violations in China.”
The sportswear giant said it was “committed to complying with legal and internal regulations and ethical standards in all markets where we operate” and that it was “intensively investigating this matter together with external legal counsel.”
No accused Adidas employees have been placed on leave, according to sources.
“Adidas takes allegations of possible compliance violations very seriously and is clearly committed to complying with legal and internal regulations and ethical standards in all markets where we operate,” the company said in a statement issued in response to a Reuters query.
In its most recent trading update, Adidas witnessed significant growth in all regions except North America, leading to an 8 percent increase in currency-neutral sales for the first quarter. China sales of the German sportswear giant grew by 8 percent during the the three months.
Looking ahead, Adidas said it expected a rebound in China this year, predicting a double-digit sales growth rate.