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Have Arsenal taken their eye off the Fairtrade ball?
• LAST year, my daughter, who is in year 8 at school, studied the geography of football and discovered how little money is earned by the people who make footballs.
She also discovered that the living standards of such workers could be significantly improved if the footballs are Fairtrade. She therefore wrote to the FA, to Fabio Capello and to the team she supports – Arsenal – to ask them to use such balls, even if only in the pre-match kick-arounds. She also wrote to the Guardian, which published her letter on the subject.
At Arsenal, after some chasing she was referred to someone who did not answer phone calls (could members of staff really be out of the office that much?) and this person, when emailed, said she would get back but didn’t.
The Fairtrade Foundation was happy to attend a meeting to discuss the issues and options, but my daughter has never heard any more.
It seems that Arsenal decided that a meeting with a 13-year-old fan to discuss a way of improving life for those worse off than themselves was something they didn’t want to be bothered with. And because it would be embarrassing to say so, they have simply hoped that a fan of this age will give up and go away.
Should I be encouraging my daughter to support an organisation like that?
KATE CALVERT
N19
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