Decathlon, a brand owned by the Mulliez family, is accused by three investigations of benefiting from forced Uighur labor in China.
The retailer Decathlon, a brand owned by the Mulliez galaxy, is accused by the media outlet Disclose and the France 2 Cash Investigation of having a subcontractor in China linked to Uighur labor, which it denies, and of sourcing cotton from Xinjiang, AFP learned on Thursday.
The French leader in sporting goods is accused by these two media of sourcing textiles from a group, “Qingdao Jifa Group”, which “relies on a forced labor network in China”, writes Disclose in an article published Thursday morning.
“We firmly condemn all forms of forced labor”
In the Cash Investigation documentary broadcast this Thursday evening, and which AFP was able to consult, a local executive indicates that cotton stored in a company producing for the Mulliez galaxy brand may come from Xinjiang, a region where the Uighurs, Muslims, are the main ethnic group.
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The The brand's communications department confirmed that it sources from Qingdao Jifa but told AFP: “We firmly condemn any form of forced labor. We are committed on a daily basis to ensuring the integrity and respect of fundamental rights within our activities and our value chain, and we will not hesitate to react and take all necessary measures if the facts are proven.”
The same source indicates “that 100% of the cotton used by Decathlon in the manufacture of its products comes from sources committed to more responsible practices, guaranteeing the absence of any form of forced labor, and including organic and recycled cotton.”
Products displaying the NBA logo
Xinjiang has, in the past, been hit by bloody attacks attributed by the authorities to Islamists and separatists and China has launched, in the name of anti-terrorism, a vast security campaign in this territory. According to claims by NGOs and Western studies, which AFP is unable to verify, Uighurs are victims of forced labor.
Cash Investigation mentions in particular products bearing the logo of the American basketball league, the NBA, of which Decathlon has been a partner since 2021. The brand claims to be able to sell products “in the colors of the NBA and NBA franchises”, and this “in more than 1,700 Decathlon stores worldwide and online”, in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.
In the United States, a law passed by Congress in December 2021 prohibits all imports of products from Xinjiang, unless companies in the region can prove that their production does not include forced labor.
The galaxie Mulliez
Cash Investigation also looks at the legal status of the Mulliez family empire, which includes many brands such as Leroy Merlin, Kiabi, Flunch, Boulanger and Auchan, all controlled by members of the Mulliez Family Association (AFM), without the latter claiming the status of an integrated group.
While Auchan announced a major social plan at the end of 2024 that would threaten 2,400 jobs in France, other brands such as Decathlon are in a better financial situation and employee representatives have called for employees to be reassigned in these brands.
In this context, Decathlon shocked its employee representatives by distributing a billion euros in dividends to its employees at the end of 2024. shareholders.