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Child labour still used in football-making nations of Asia

Thirteen years after companies such as Adidas AG and Nike Inc. joined labour and development organisations to end the use of an estimated 7,000 children to stitch footballs, "child labour continues to exist" in the three main ball-making countries of Pakistan, China and India, according a 7 June report by the Washington-based International Labour Rights Forum, issued just days before the World Cup is due to start.

In those countries and Thailand – the fourth major producer of footballs – adult workers often are paid too little to support their families. Some children still stitch balls at home, while others have migrated to new work, the report said.