Decathlon is secretly supplying sports goods to Russia, report claims

A media investigation has found that French sports retail giant Decathlon has secretly continued selling clothes in Russia despite officially pulling out in protest at Russia's war in Ukraine.

People enter a shopping centre housing a Leroy Merlin DIY store and a store of French sports goods retailer Decathlon in Moscow on March 24, 2022. - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used a video address to France's parliament on March 23, to insist "French companies must quit the Russian market". © AFP/Natalia Kolesnikova

In 2022, the multinational retailer – which posted sales of over €15 billion last year – announced within weeks of Russia's invasion of Ukraine that it would withdraw from the Russian market.

According to a report published by the investigative media site Disclose this Tuesday, in October of this year, Decathlon sold its 60 local Russian outlets to Desport, a move that was presented as marking the end of its Russian presence.

"Except it wasn't," the Disclose report says.

In recent weeks – "very discreetly" – Decathlon has supplied Desport with products carrying its flagship brands Quechua, Wedze and Kalenji.

🔴 Decathlon’s "secret project" to keep doing business in #Russia

A shell company in Dubai and a subsidiary in Singapore: French sports retail giant @Decathlon has set up an opaque system to continue selling its products in Russia, reveals @Disclose_ngo https://t.co/HlU5cocI9p

— Disclose (@Disclose_ngo) December 19, 2023

'Limits of legality'

Citing internal documents, open-source videos and statements from former staff, Disclose said that Decathlon had put in place "a vast system to conceal its exports as part of a supply agreement with Desport" which it said was worth at least €11 million, using a shell company in Dubai and a Singapore-based subsidiary.

The operation, Disclose said, has taken Decathlon "to the limits of legality".

"I learned in the summer of 2023 that Decathlon wanted to continue selling its products in Russia," the media quoted an unnamed source who recently left the company as saying.

"I immediately understood that it was a secret project."

To meet Russian demand, Decathlon diverted part of its production originally earmarked for EU markets, and boosted output at Asian production sites.

EU sanctions following Russia's attack on Ukraine on 24 February 2022, made it illegal to deliver weapons, luxury goods or equipment that could strengthen industrial capacity to Russia.

However, sports articles are not on the list.

• Decathlon becomes latest French company to pull out of Russia

Asked for comment by French news agency AFP, Decathlon said that it "operates no stores in the Russian Federation, employs no staff and owns no stakes in active companies in the country".

It added that Decathlon was doing "everything to stop the resale on Russian Federation territory of products purchased in Europe by third parties".

On Monday, the European Union adopted a twelfth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes a ban on imports of Russian diamonds into the EU.

(With wires)