Here is what Mitre has to say about this, essentially a typically arrogant owning-class non-answer to documentary evidence of their exploitation of those lower than them (my real name is redacted for security reasons). What is shocking is how they characterize HBO as lying and making false claims:

"In response to the broadcast of HBO’s ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’ on the evening of 16th September 2008 I am writing to you to allay any concerns that may have been raised with regard to Mitre’s ethical policy associated with child labour.

We take any such reports very seriously and investigate them thoroughly. Our checks on the broadcasted report that claimed that young people in India were involved in the stitching of footballs have revealed that those shown were not in fact in any way involved in the manufacturing of Mitre product.

Mitre is continuing its own investigations in India to understand the source of these false claims.

Mitre is proud of the work it has done with a number of leading ball manufacturers in India and Pakistan for many decades and we have worked in partnership with state, non-governmental and international organisations throughout the years to develop sustainable programmes to ensure the elimination of child labour.

Mitre has been working with the Sports Goods Foundation of India (SGFI) for over ten years in ensuring that there is effective independent monitoring of those involved in ball production. This also includes improving working conditions in the industry and engaging with the SGFI in social programmes covering skill training, education and literacy.

As part of this ongoing work Mitre has significantly supported improvements to the infrastructure of primary and secondary school education and developed with the factories both an internal monitoring procedure and embraced independent monitoring systems. These measures have been widely recognised as extremely effective in not only removing child labour but also in helping any young people who may have been involved.

Mitre has a very clear ethical policy regarding employment and working conditions for all our suppliers. In particular, our employment standards for suppliers state that there is no recruitment or use of child labour. With the steps and measures that we have in place and with our regular reviews of the process we continually check that all our products are being manufactured in compliance with this standard.

We always welcome any information which will help the local programmes improve and refine their procedures and to remind us that we need to continue to work closely and to support them. We are proud to be associated with these programmes, issues of poverty, including child labour, are all too easily sensationalised. The hard work of trying to do something to change people's lives is unfortunately not newsworthy.

If you have any further concerns please do not hesitate to email enquiries [at] mitre.com"

Unfortunately the you tube videos are no longer available. The only way to view the HBO footage is to go to HBO on demand before October 26, 2008.

Hey Trina, my friend Rogue sent me the link to this article. Thanks for the info. I reposted it to the Soccer/Football Politics & Culture feed - http://anarchistsoccer.org/taxonomy/term/158 - at AnarchistSoccer.org . The article is here - http://anarchistsoccer.org/node/249

It's also linked our anarchist soccer team page for Austin, Texas at http://anarchistsoccer.org/node/173

A bunch of folks there are starting up a kids game alongside the regular games and it seemed screwed up to be buying balls made with child sweat shop labor...

Cheers, Simon