Things have changed, and the All India Football Federation uses balls only from FIFA-approved sports goods manufacturing companies that today have checks to make sure there’s no child labour, says Kushal Das, General Secretary. All of this pushes up the cost of a football by 15-20%. Worldwide, there is a thousands -strong network, which Abhishek Jani, CEO, Fairtrade India, says they tap into. He admits that “We need to create a Fairtrade marketplace,” meaning that this education has to be extended to the layperson who is eventually going out to buy that football. It’s only then that a parent will pause a minute to think about the fingers that stitched that football, and pay that little extra.

Source: The Hindu May 07, 2018 07:08 UTC