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Major NBA sponsors linked to forced labour

I learn something new every day in this job – and I had to stop and re-read a sentence in this story that told me China has more basketball fans than the US has people.

This fact is a key bit of context. This story follows on from our investigation with The New York Times revealing that more than 100 global brands are linked to a Chinese forced labour scheme. The government programme ships Xinjiang ethnic minorities to work in factories thousands of miles away.

In this latest story, Daniel Murphy reveals how some of the Chinese brands using the NBA to advertise actually directly own production sites linked to these human rights abuses.

Take, for example, the Chinese sportswear brand Li Ning. It has been using NBA players to promote its footwear for more than a decade, ever since Dwyane Wade ended his contract with Nike’s Jordan brand and signed with the Chinese company in 2012. If you’re not familiar, Li Ning was founded by a billionaire former Olympic gymnast, after whom it was named, and is well-known for its running, basketball and badminton shoes.

The brand also sponsors the Golden State Warriors’ Jimmy Butler and Fred VanVleet of the Houston Rockets, who is president of the National Basketball Players Association. (These sponsorship deals are made with players directly and are not subject to NBA approval.)

Li Ning and other Chinese brands like Anta and 361 Degrees now compete with legacy American companies for lucrative sponsorship deals. More than a dozen NBA players had deals with the three brands in 2022, according to analysis from ESPN. Anta, Li Ning and 361 Degrees are among the brands that directly own production sites linked to the labour transfer programme. And if this wasn’t enough, the sportswear labels are also supplied by other companies participating in the scheme.

Li Ning told TBIJ it “strictly opposes and prohibits any form of forced labour” in its supply chain and regularly audits its suppliers, with a “zero-tolerance” policy enforced. It added that the company “always upholds human rights and the legal rights of labour”. 361 Degrees and Anta did not respond to requests for comment.

We first reported on the use of forced labour in China in May and we’ve stayed on the story ever since. Because that’s what we do here at the Bureau – we keep shining a light on people whose stories don’t get told anywhere else. If you’d like to support us and be a part of our journey, then why not sign up as a Bureau Insider today?

Factchecked!

Each week we reveal a fascinating fact from our reporting…

Did you know?

India’s central drug regulator employs about 2,000 officials to oversee more than 10,000 pharmaceutical factories and a million pharmacies.

Find out more

While India is globally known for its global exports, primarily of generic drugs – cheaper versions of brand-name medicines – there are longstanding concerns about the quality and safety of some of its drugs. 

This is partly because the country’s regulation standards are not necessarily in line with those of other nations, while lax oversight can allow unscrupulous companies to cut corners.

Read more here

UK sanctions survive oligarch’s appeal

Regular readers might remember that we started the year by revealing Roman Abramovich’s sham yacht-rental scheme, which helped him dodge an eye-watering €25m in tax in Cyprus. Well, we’ve got an update.

Last week, the Cypriot tax authority filed an indictment against some former directors of Blue Ocean Yacht Management. That’s the Cyprus-based company that was at the heart of an arrangement that let the oligarch falsely claim huge tax exemptions on his fleet of luxury superyachts between 2005 and 2012.

In a statement, Cyprus’s tax commissioner Sotiris Markides said: “The case has been filed today and the trial date has been set for 9 October 2025 in Limassol District Court. The case involves directors of Blue Ocean who are charged with criminal offences based on VAT law.” He did not identify the former directors nor specify the charges filed against them. The company itself did not respond to a request for comment.

It’s the latest development in a years-long saga over Blue Ocean’s tax bill. In 2012, the Cypriot authorities began pursuing the company for unpaid VAT. Last year, despite having lost its case, Blue Ocean was dissolved without paying the multimillion-euro amount.

Our original investigation – which was published with the Guardian, BBC and CIReN – prompted an outcry from British MPs. In June, the Cypriot tax commissioner obtained a court order to reinstate the company so the unpaid bills could be claimed and charges filed. Lawyers for Abramovich have previously denied any allegation that the billionaire was aware of or responsible for any scheme to evade taxes.

Investigative journalists working together and staying on the story? It’s enough to take the wind out of anyone’s tax-dodging sails.

Standing with our slain colleagues

On Wednesday this week, I stood side by side with journalist colleagues from TBIJ and from across London at a vigil organised by the London Freelance Branch of the National Union of Journalists.

Speaking outside Number 10 Downing Street, Pennie Quinton, chair of the branch, said: “Today I presented a letter with my colleagues Mike Holderness and Mariam Elsayeh, of the London freelance branch, to prime minister Keir Starmer calling for more than just words on the killing of our colleagues, our journalist colleagues, in Gaza.”

The vigil came just two days after an Israeli airstrike hit the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza and killed 20 people, including five journalists – Mohamed Salama, Moaz Abu Taha, Hussam al-Masri, Ahmed Abu Aziz and Mariam Dagga. Mariam’s work captured the scores of wounded brought to Nasser, southern Gaza’s main hospital.

This is the same hospital that we reported on just last week, highlighting the dire situation faced by those working day and night to save lives in unimaginable conditions.

As we said in a statement on our social channels this week, the press must be free to report on the atrocities happening in Gaza – Palestinian journalists documenting the war are protected civilians under international law. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 197 journalists have been killed in the Gaza-Israel war since 2023.

Gathered along Whitehall, first in the rain and then in the sun, we held cards representing each of the journalists killed in Gaza so far. As we took turns to walk up to the microphone and read out their names to the crowd, it was impossible not to be moved by the senseless loss. Through the anger, the sadness, the horror, one message was clear – even though journalists may die, the truth will not.