The University of Wisconsin at Madison, whose licensing agreement with Adidas is worth $1.2-million annually, says it will not cut its ties to the athletics-apparel company despite a recent recommendation to do so by its own licensing-policy committee.
Instead, the institution plans to meet with Adidas executives to discuss reports of workers’-rights abuses at one of Adidas’s former subcontractors. The university will also send an envoy this week to El Salvador, where the now-closed Hermosa Manufacturing plant is located, to investigate those claims.
“I am prepared to pursue my very grave concern about what has happened with the Hermosa facility directly to the senior management of Adidas,” Chancellor John D. Wiley said in a written statement.