German sports equipment company Adidas announced on Monday that it is conducting an “in-depth investigation” into a billion-dollar case of alleged corruption in China involving local employees of the group.
The Herzogenaurach group, barely recovered from the turmoil following its brutal separation from American rapper Ye for his anti-Semitic statements, is now facing a compromising case in China, where its sales soared again last year after the drop related to the Covid pandemic. -19.
On June 7, Adidas said it had received “an anonymous letter indicating possible compliance violations in China”, a spokesperson told AFP.
Adidas is “thoroughly investigating this case in collaboration with external legal advisors”, without providing further details.
The three-striped brand takes “accusations of possible compliance violations very seriously” and aims to be beyond reproach “in all markets in which it operates”, according to its spokesperson.
The letter is attributed to “Adidas officials in China”, who specifically accuse several Chinese employees, including an executive in the marketing budget department, of having received significant bribes, according to the British newspaper Financial Times, which revealed the case.
An Adidas China employee is accused of receiving ‘millions in cash from suppliers, as well as real estate’.
Adidas, which entered China in 1997, today has 14 factories and achieved 15% of its global sales in 2023, that is, 3.2 billion euros (18.3 billion reais at the current price) with a growth of 8 % in a year.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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