Decathlon on back foot over China forced labour accusations
French company Decathlon, the world's biggest sports equipment retailer, on Thursday defended its human rights record after reports it had benefited from forced labour in China.
Decathlon, regularly cited as among French people's favourite brands, employs around 100,000 people in 1,700 stores in more than 70 countries.
Two French media outlets, Disclose and France 2, said in reports released Thursday that Decathlon had benefited from forced labour by China's Uyghur minority, which rights groups say is the target of grave human rights abuses by the Beijing government.
Specifically, Decathlon has sourced textiles from the Qingdao Jifa Group, a garment manufacturer that, according to Disclose, "relies on a forced labour network in China".
In a France 2 documentary to be broadcast Thursday evening, a local manager says that cotton stored at a company producing for Decathlon could well be from Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uyghur community.
AFP has been unable to verify allegations made by NGOs and western experts that Uyghurs have been coerced into forced labour.
Decathlon confirmed Thursday that it works with Qingdao Jifa Group, but told AFP that it is "committed every day to guaranteeing the integrity and the respect of fundamental rights within our businesses and our value chain".
The company said it "firmly condemns all forms of forced labour" and "will not hesitate to take action and all necessary measures should these claims turn out to be correct".
The company added that "100 percent of the cotton" used by Decathlon was being supplied by sources "committed to the most responsible practices, which guarantees the absence of all forms of forced labour".
Founded in 1976 in Lille, northern France, Decathlon steadily grew its model of big-box stores first across Europe, and then into Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Decathlon generated a net profit of 931 million euros ($965 million) in 2023, on turnover of 15.6 billion euros.
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