Soccer Project

The Soccer Project was a response to the build-up to the 2006 World Cup tournament, when stakeholders criticized factory conditions in the soccer products supply chain. This project sought to bring together multiple stakeholders to identify a number of critical issues in the industry and work on improving workplace conditions, with two specific priority areas: Grievance Procedures and Hours of Work. The Soccer Project is also a pilot project designed to test FLA's new 3.0 sustainable compliance methodology. Through the pilot process, the FLA has brought together stakeholders from brands, suppliers, and civil society groups to determine how compliance can be achieved from the ground up in a self-sustaining manner
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The overall objective of this project is to contribute to the development of the FLA 3.0 methodology to promote sustainable labor compliance in factories that produce for FLA affiliated companies. The immediate objective is to strengthen the capacity of manufacturers of soccer products who currently supply participating companies to improve and sustain compliance with the FLA Code of Conduct in the areas of hours of work and grievance procedures in selected factories in Thailand and China.

Project strategies

The Soccer Project employs the new FLA methodology of developing sustainable compliance through capacity building and involves stakeholders in the definition and delivery of the remedial strategies. The pilot project shifts the compliance approach from policing to proactive development of capacity at the factory level. A process of consultations involving all stakeholders identifies the root causes of the critical noncompliance issues, and with the assistance of technical experts, agreed capacity building remediation strategies are implemented. Subsequent impact assessments will indicate whether and where additional capacity building is required.

This pilot project involves public outreach and transparency. Stakeholder involvement is central to the definition of the noncompliance issues and remedial strategies, and civil society organizations will also be engaged as providers of remedial services. Information about project activities is continually being conveyed through stakeholder fora, reports on the FLA Web site, and press statements.

Activities to reach project objectives

Consultations with suppliers and company compliance staff in Thailand and China to present the approach.
Self-assessments and needs assessments at supplier facilities using assessment tools developed by the FLA.
Working with FLA participating companies and licensees, develop capacity building programs for suppliers to be delivered by third-party services providers.
Conduct ongoing consultations with suppliers, brands, and civil society stakeholders in Thailand and China.

Outputs of the project

Improve the understanding of factories and their responses to compliance issues such as hours of work and grievance handling by providing a set of Sustainable Compliance Assessment Tools (SCAT) and corresponding Sustainable Compliance Instructional Materials (SCIM) for capacity building;
Offer value-added training products such as “Strategy Development towards Sustainable Compliance” based on the Balanced Scorecard concept, and the “Human Resource Scorecard“;
Train trainers drawn from compliance staff of FLA-affiliated companies and local organizations to provide capacity-building services to suppliers in the soccer products sector;
Provide a set of Sustainable Compliance Indices (SCI) for each component of the sustainable compliance program;
Expand stakeholder engagement with the sustainable compliance program in the soccer products sector by organizing one or more stakeholder fora in Thailand and China;
Ensure public and stakeholder awareness of the progress of the project by creating a Web site dedicated to the project and issuing regular reports; and
Organize an international stakeholder forum in mid-2006 to present a progress report on the project.