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An Adidas store in Shanghai. The company said it was investigating “compliance violations” in China.
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Two employees have resigned from German sportswear brand Adidas as the company continues to investigate corruption allegations in China.
Adidas last week The company said it was investigating “compliance violations” in China, a major market for sportswear. Executive The men, from the country, were accused of embezzling millions of euros and accepting huge bribes.
“Adidas is investigating the matter with independent external advisors and has found evidence that an employee violated the company’s code of conduct in their interactions with a local vendor,” Claudia Lange, the apparel giant’s head of media relations, said in a statement on Wednesday.
“And the other employee failed to meet company management’s expectations of demonstrating mutual respect and trust,” she said, adding that both have left the company and the investigation is ongoing.
Chinese state media Economic View reported on Wednesday that two of the former employees worked in marketing at Adidas China.
Allegations against Adidas executives It was written in an unsigned letter. The letter was widely published online earlier this month and reported by state media outlet Jie Wei.
Ziemian wrote that the letter was sent directly to the company’s German headquarters before being shared on social media.
Lange told CNN last week that Adidas On June 7, the company received an anonymous letter “suggesting potential compliance violations in China.”
The reported allegations alleged that a senior executive in Greater China who manages Adidas’ marketing budget embezzled millions of euros and received kickbacks from outside advertising and celebrity agencies. Several members of the executive’s team and other employees were also allegedly involved, according to a copy of the letter published by Chinese state media.
Adidas Greater China’s promotional budget is 250 million euros ($268 million) per year, including marketing, branding, trade fairs and other expenses, Jiemian reported. I quote from that letter.
Senior managers were also accused of “nepotism” and “workplace bullying,” including isolating some employees and forcing them to resign, the letter’s authors said. It is said that…
The complaint also states: One of the manager’s subordinates “received millions of dollars from suppliers, real estate and other items,” the suit said.
Adidas is the world’s second largest sportswear retailer. Greater China, which includes mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, is the 15% of the company’s sales.
Adidas is the second largest company in mainland China. It is the second largest international sportswear brand after Nike (NKE). The German company is enjoying a recovery in sales growth in China. Beijing lifted anti-coronavirus restrictions at the end of 2022.
Adidas is well known for using “celebrities” in its marketing in China, and has previously appointed popular actors and singers such as Yang Mi, Dilraba and Yi Yangchenxi as brand ambassadors.
CNN’s Fred He contributed to this report.
