Gareth Jones visits a small Scottish social enterprise which is aiming to spread the use of fairtrade footballs, and hears about the challenges of taking on the biggest sporting brands in the world
Kicking a ball about is a simple pleasure for people across Scotland. But have you ever stopped to think about where that ball came from and of the conditions for the workers that produced it?
Images of children stitching footballs, working in dire conditions, were commonplace in the 1990s. This prompted action from the major sports brands, who decided to clamp down on the use of child workers. However conditions in the Punjab, where the majority of the world’s sports balls are produced, are often still well below what workers in the west would expect, with low wages commonplace.
Bala Sport is leading the fight to ensure that those that produce sports balls are working in fair conditions, and are adequately rewarded by their employers.
The social enterprise was formed in 2014 to level the playing field between sports consumers and the makers of the balls through a fair price and fair working conditions – and still offer the best quality equipment for enhanced performance.
Bala’s Fairtrade certified sports balls guarantee that the men and women who made the hand stitched products are paid a fair wage and benefit from fair working.
“We think of ourselves as the best kept secret in the fair trade world,” said Angus Coull, marketing and communications director at Bala Sport.
“Everybody knows about bananas and chocolate but it surprises me how few people know about sports balls
“Up until the mid-1990s child labour was rife in the sports ball industry. The big brands did get together and clean up their act. The Harkin Engel protocol was created, and the big companies subscribed to that.
“Child labour has pretty much been stamped out. But one of the good things about fairtrade is the standards very clearly set out that there should be absolutely no child labour.
“You know for sure that workers are being treated fairly. The get paid fair rates, work in decent conditions and have access to union representation. There will be equal rights for men and women plus they get paid the fairtrade premium – which is an extra cash sum that goes directly to the workers through a joint committee that’s democratically elected. They decide what to invest that fund in, typically for things like free safe drinking water for anybody in the area.”
The balls that Bala produce –
ranging from standard designs to ones that are fully customised – are all designed in Glasgow. The social enterprise’s footballs are made in Sialkot in Pakistan, where 70% of the world’s stitched sports balls are made, and its rugby balls are made across the border in the Indian Punjab.
The idea of ensuring that fairtrade balls were available in Scotland was conceived by the Scottish Fair Trade Forum, however it was quickly discovered that the products weren’t readily available.
“I had just come back from eight years in New Zealand,” Coull said. “I couldn’t get a job immediately and was volunteering for the Scottish Fair Trade Forum. The role they gave me was one to promote fair trade sports balls. I started the project but realised there was only one guy in the UK importing the balls. He was in Brighton and only had about 40 balls left. We decided we would set up a steering group to see if we could get a social enterprise sorted to expand availability, ensuring there was a decent supply of balls to promote.”
Bala now has 117 member investors, including two secondary schools, but has found it tough to compete with the major sports brands.
Coull said: “We’re finding it really difficult. We were a bit naïve thinking we could set up a sports brand when the competition is Adidas, Nike, Puma, Mitre and all the rest. We’ve survived thus far, but it is a struggle competing with those huge brands that have prices that are competitive and can give away their balls to community projects.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. One of the things we possibly got wrong when we produced our business plan was we believed that the demand for fair trade footballs was higher than it’s turned out to be.”
Another challenge Bala faces is that, despite being of the same standards and a similar price to its competitors, the product does not have the backing of football bigwigs.
“FIFA are a problem for us,” said Coull. “If we want our balls to be used in the World Cup, they can’t be. Not because they’re not good enough – they are. Because FIFA demand that any balls used have their own certification mark. We have to make the choice that we make FIFA-certified balls, rather than ones carrying the fairtrade mark.
“If we wanted that certification, we’d have to pay 7,000 Euros every two years for every type of ball that we make, and give them 50 cents for every ball that we sell.”
Nevertheless, Bala is making in-roads across Scotland with a focus on socially-conscious schools, community clubs and in women’s football.
“We’re very keen on working with the women’s game, and have been right from the start. One of the first clubs to play with our ball was FC United of Manchester’s women’s team.
“They don’t have the same regulations as the men’s game does and that’s an area that we’re hoping that we can really expand. St Mirren women’s team are working with us.
“Schools are our biggest customer basis at the moment, and they apply on a regular basis. We’re doing some work with the fair trade forum regarding procurement so it is easier for schools to purchase our products.”
Bala recently received a boost when one of its balls appeared on the Netflix hit The Stranger, and it also provided equipment for the Homeless World Cup in Glasgow. Coull added that he hopes Scotland can lead the way in using socially-responsible sports balls.
“We are a fair trade nation, and absolutely we should be leading the way with this. To an extent we are, but we need to do a lot more.
“If you look at the SFA’s ethos, it’s all about fairness, for workers and fans. But we should extent that for the nation that make the crucial bit of kit that you need to play.”
