Author: Carlos Rosado van der Gracht

The already underwhelming excitement surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup has taken a controversial turn for the Mexican national team. While fans eagerly await the summer tournament, questions have emerged regarding the official team jersey.

Reports indicate that indigenous women in Puebla, Mexico, were paid extremely low wages to hand-embroider the special edition Adidas jerseys. The story raises serious questions about fair labor practices in the supply chain of global sportswear giants.

The collaboration was presented as a cultural celebration. Adidas worked with the Mexican social enterprise Someone Somewhere to create a unique jersey for the World Cup. The campaign highlighted the work of more than 150 artisans from Naupan, located in the Sierra Norte of Puebla.

The project aimed to fuse traditional Mexican textile art with modern sportswear. These women were hired to hand-embroider specific details, including the national team’s crest and the Adidas logo. However, the reality behind the marketing campaign has turned the project into a major public relations crisis.

Low Wages and Lack of Social Security

The controversy was brought to light by cultural promoter Luz Valdez. She interviewed several artisans who worked on the Adidas project for the 2026 World Cup jersey. The testimonies reveal a stark contrast between the jersey’s retail price and the workers’ pay.

The official jersey sells for between 1,599 and 4,999 Mexican pesos, which is roughly 80 to 250 USD. According to the investigation, the women received between 25 and 40 pesos per hour. That equates to approximately one to two US dollars per hour.

One artisan stated she was paid 200 pesos for a minimum five-hour shift. Beyond the low wages, the women reported a lack of access to social security. The subcontracting company, Someone Somewhere, allegedly did not register the embroiderers with the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).

Instead of formal registration, the company reportedly offered a remote private medical service. This was offered despite the presence of an IMSS medical unit just a few kilometers from their community.

Use of Public Spaces and Traditional Designs

The report also details unusual working conditions for the World Cup jersey production. The artisans were required to work inside a public building: the “Amochkali” House of Culture in Naupan. This public space was reportedly converted into a private maquila workshop.

According to the women interviewed, the workers had to clock in and out using electronic devices. Furthermore, local municipal authorities were denied access to the site due to “confidentiality” agreements.

Another layer of the controversy concerns the jersey’s cultural authenticity. While the marketing campaign celebrated Mexican textile traditions, the artisans claimed the required techniques were not their own. The women said they were taught modern stitches such as French knots and zigzag patterns to meet Adidas’ quality standards.

These techniques are not part of the traditional “hilo contado” or “pepenado” embroidery style native to the Sierra Norte region.

A History of Cultural Missteps for Adidas

This is not the first time the German sportswear giant has faced cultural backlash in Mexico. Just last year, Adidas was forced to apologize over the “Oaxaca Slip-On” sandals. Designed by an American, the sandals featured traditional Zapotec patterns without permission or compensation to local artisans.

That previous incident resulted in a legal dispute with the Oaxacan government. While Adidas eventually visited the community to make amends, critics argue the new World Cup jersey scandal shows a repeated pattern of labor exploitation.

The controversy also echoes other alleged instances of overstepping by corporations in their use of Indigenous imagery, as is the case with Xcaret in Quintana Roo and the traditional textile designs plagiarized by Spanish fast-fashion giant Zara.

The Response from Adidas and Someone Somewhere

Following the public outcry, the subcontracting company Someone Somewhere, sent a letter addressing the accusations. The company defended the payment scheme, stating that wages were above the minimum legal requirement. They also claimed that using the public cultural center was requested by the artisan collective itself.

However, they confirmed that the women were not registered with the IMSS. They argued this was because the workers did not want to lose access to a separate federal welfare program.

Adidas has not issued an official statement regarding the labor conditions behind the production of the official Mexico 2026 World Cup jersey. 

Two weeks before the opening whistle of the 2026 World Cup, a strange quiet has settled over the host cities of Mexico. 

Hotel owners in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey had spent years preparing for an economic boom, anticipating a flood of international football fans.

Yet the anticipated wave of bookings has not arrived. Instead of raising prices, many hoteliers are slashing them, offering deep discounts in a desperate attempt to fill the remaining rooms.

This phenomenon is not unique to Mexico; a similar pattern of tepid demand is spreading across all three host nations, casting serious doubt on the expected economic windfall from the world’s largest sporting event.

In Mexico, the numbers paint a stark picture. The National Association of Hotel Chains projects that occupancy across the three host cities will average between 60% and 65% during the tournament, a significant drop from the more than 80% forecast by the consultancy firm Deloitte back in February. 

In Mexico City specifically, current reservations are reportedly even lower than they were during the summer of 2025, a concerning sign for the nation’s bustling capital. 

Hotel revenue data from experts at Lighthouse Intelligence shows that in places like Guadalajara and Mexico City, prices had surged by over 100% in anticipation of the event, but as match days approach, those rates have fallen sharply from their peaks.

Monterrey serves as perhaps the most dramatic example of this trend. The city has been dealt a difficult hand by the tournament’s draw, which has it hosting group games involving Sweden, Tunisia, Japan, and South Africa. 

Lacking a local favorite to galvanize the city, hoteliers were forced to slash their rates, cutting them by up to 42% from their peak. The disappointment is not limited to traditional hotels. 

Airbnb hosts in Mexico City’s most desirable neighborhoods, including Condesa, Roma, and Coyoacán, have also reported drastically lowering their prices due to a lack of bookings, with many citing security concerns as a primary deterrent.

Not Just a Mexico Problem

This malaise is not a problem confined to Mexico’s borders. The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has sounded the alarm, warning that reservations are far below expectations in almost every U.S. host city. A staggering 80% of hoteliers across 11 American host cities—including Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, and New York—report that bookings are falling short of initial projections. At the same time, a similar outlook has presented itself in Canada’s host cities.

The forecast for the tournament’s economic impact in the U.S. has been drastically revised, with CoStar analysts projecting a meager 1.7% year-over-year lift in revenue per available room nationally. 

Several critical factors appear to be driving travelers away instead of drawing them in. A major point of contention is the FIFA organization itself, which has been accused by the AHLA of creating artificial demand by block-booking large numbers of hotel rooms months in advance, only to cancel them later. 

These block reservations inflated hotel revenue forecasts and staffing plans, and when FIFA released the rooms, it left hoteliers with a sudden glut of inventory they are now scrambling to fill. In some cities, such as Boston, Dallas, and Los Angeles, up to 70% of the rooms initially reserved by FIFA have reportedly been canceled, creating a real estate vacuum and forcing prices to plummet.

The high cost of attending the tournament is another massive hurdle. Ticket prices for matches are exorbitantly high, with some costing thousands of dollars, forcing even die-hard fans to reconsider their plans. 

For international travelers, this is compounded by high airfares, local transportation costs, and a general inflationary environment that has made the entire trip financially prohibitive for many.

The Politics of it All

There is also a strong geopolitical undercurrent shaping the weak demand. In the United States, surveys indicate that 59% of soccer fans would feel unsafe traveling to the U.S. for a major sporting event, citing strict immigration enforcement, political unrest, and anti-foreigner sentiment. 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued a travel advisory ahead of the event, warning that journalists and fans entering the U.S. could face invasive measures like social media scrutiny and detention by immigration authorities, which has undoubtedly dampened enthusiasm for travel.

The international assessment firm Moody’s has lowered the credit scores of eight of Mexico’s leading banks and the country’s state-owned electricity provider, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE).

For someone who does not follow financial ratings closely, a good way to understand this news is to think of a credit score for a country or a large company. A high score means the borrower is very likely to repay its debts, so lenders charge low interest rates. 

A lower score signals greater risk, leading to higher borrowing costs and, in the worst cases, cutting off access to loans entirely. Moody’s is one of the three major agencies that assign these scores worldwide.

A Sovereign Slip That Pulls Others Down

The reason for these cuts traces back to the Mexican government itself. Just one day before the bank and utility downgrades, Moody’s had lowered Mexico’s own sovereign credit rating to Baa3 from Baa2. That level is the last step before a country’s debt is considered speculative, or “junk” status in market slang. 

The agency warned that Mexico’s public finances have been steadily weakening due to rigid government spending, a narrow tax base and ongoing financial support for the troubled state oil company, Pemex. The agency also pointed to low economic growth expectations, a weak job market, and ongoing uncertainty around trade and legal certainty.

Why Banks Cannot Escape Their Own Country’s Fate

Because banks operate entirely within Mexico’s borders, their fortunes are tied to the nation’s. If the government has less money and the economy is struggling, banks face a higher risk that their customers will fall behind on loans. 

The operating environment simply becomes tougher. As a result, Moody’s lowered the ratings for deposits, debt, and overall financial strength for eight institutions, including the Mexican branches of BBVA and Santander, as well as local giants Banorte and Banco del Bajío. Two state-run development banks, Bancomext and Nafin, were also cut, along with the Institute for the Protection of Bank Savings, known as IPAB, which insures people’s bank accounts.

The CFE and Volatility

Moody’s lowered CFE’s foreign currency rating to match the government’s new lower score. While the utility dominates the Mexican power market, the agency highlighted two major risks. First, CFE depends heavily on imported natural gas, which exposes it to sharp swings in global energy prices and the risk of supply disruptions due to geopolitical instability. Second, the company has announced an ambitious investment plan worth roughly $30 billion through 2030. Although the plan is necessary to modernize the country’s grid, Moody’s warned that it poses risks to its implementation and will result in a moderate increase in borrowing.

A Silver Lining Hidden in the Fine Print

There is, however, a silver lining for the utility. Moody’s changed CFE’s outlook to “stable” because the company has purchased financial hedges, which are essentially insurance-like contracts, to protect itself against nearly half of its natural gas price risk. This means that CFE is better shielded than many observers expected from the kind of price spikes that caused energy crises in recent years.

Government Optimism Vs. Market Reality

The Mexican Ministry of Finance has pushed back against the negative picture, emphasizing the country’s fundamental strengths, including its economic diversification and resilience. Government officials have pointed to Mexico’s large international reserves and the independence of its central bank as anchors of stability.

Nevertheless, independent financial analysts warn that the government has a limited window to act. Carlos López Jones, Director of Tendencias Económicas y Financieras, noted that Moody’s decision to assign a “stable” outlook gives Mexico roughly eighteen months to improve its public finances. If the country does not show meaningful progress by the end of next year, he warned, the agency will likely change the outlook to negative, which would be a genuine warning sign that a full downgrade to speculative territory is coming.

With information from Aristegui Noticias