He was responding to this newspaper's probe into an Indonesian factory producing the +F50.6 Tunit football boots. The investigation found that workers at the factory were being paid just 2 a day, while workers also claimed they were regularly exposed to verbal and physical abuse by their supervisors.

However, Duff has this weekend broken his silence on the controversy and praised the multinational sportswear giant for doing "business in a fair way".

Label codes on the boots, which retail for 180- 400 in Irish sportswear shops, confirm they were made in the specific factory (PT Panarub) investigated by the Sunday Tribune.

Our investigation spurred three of Ireland's biggest sports stores . . . Elverys, Lifestyle Sports and Champion Sports . . . to rethink their policy on the sale of the Adidas boots promoted by Duff and other stars such as David Beckham.

Nobody was available for comment at either Lifestyle Sports or Elverys Sports this weekend.

However, Champion Sports' footwear buyer Paul Murray said, "We have stopped buying the boots through a combination of poor sales and news of the conditions they were made in. We are waiting on Adidas to come back to us with a comment but we are ceasing to sell these boots."

In response to last week's revelations in this newspaper, an Adidas spokesman said, "We have actively encouraged PT Panarub to dramatically improve working conditions for its employees.

"As a result, its factory now offers a safer and healthier working environment and pays workers higher than the industry average.

"Adidas has also persuaded the management at the PT Panarub factory to progressively reduce overtime by more than 20 hours a week so individuals now work on average no more than 48 hours in any week."

Adidas criticised the Sunday Tribune for describing working conditions at its factory as "horrific".

"While it is acknowledged that the factory has had ongoing industrial relations issues, it is incorrect to suggest that the workplace conditions, pay and treatment of the workers are substandard, " said the spokesman.

However, this newspaper's investigation found that the 11,500 workers at the Panarub factory were paid just 68 a month, and that these workers must rely on overtime to make ends meet.

Staff at the factory work in loud and noisy conditions and the investigation also catalogued an industrial relations dispute at the factory.

Speaking about this dispute, the Adidas spokesman said, "We will continue to pressure PT Panarub to come to a suitable resolution."