Chelsea have Vladimir Putin?s best mate, Roman Abramovich, bankrolling their circus, known more commonly as a Premier League football team. Abramovich?s billions also helped ensure Vladimir Putin?s reign in Russia continued during the last elections there. His money helped support a regime committed to the regression of democracy in Russia, as well as the continued oppression of the people of Chechnya, and increased military spending helping polarize and agitate their neighbors.

Strange days indeed, when such characters can waltz in and purchase an entire football team. Alas, the promise of money and better players always seems to quell any sort of opposition to these proposed takeovers resulting in minimum fuss in their quest to turn a football club into a money making cash cow.

But what does this have to do with Everton? Good question. While, luckily, we have not been approached from the murky underworld by an oil tycoon, we have been offered a deal by the Tesco corporation. I have made it known on Toffeeweb before about my opposition to the move to Kirkby and my opposition to Tesco owning the naming rights to our new stadium, wherever it may be. But I also wanted to shed some light on Tesco?s practices as a company, both in England and around the world.

As recently as two months ago, the Guardian reported on farmer?s working conditions in South Africa, Tesco?s main supplier of fruit and other produce, as lacking in any kind of living wage, workers referring to their boss as ?master?, and also being paid a miserly 30p an hour for their troubles. Over a year ago Tesco acknowledged their inhumane working conditions and promised to become a member of ETI (the Ethical Trading Initiative) in an effort to protect their workers. All evidence points to it being a token gesture made in order to clean up their public image.

Conditions in South Africa have actually worsened and the people who stood up to Tesco and asked to have their basic human rights respected have been strategically persecuted by those working above them, namely their ?masters?. A deplorable situation and one that is not the exception to Tesco?s policy of exploitation of cheap labor, but the rule.

A woman on a South African pear farm receives 32.50 pounds every 2 weeks (significantly less than the government mandated minimum wage of 38 pounds) while at the same time Tesco?s yearly profit margin topped the 2 billion mark. This is not the kind of unethical inhumane treatment that I want associated with Everton Football Club. Tesco was also recently linked with a violation of child labor laws in Bangladeshi textile factories where workers were being paid 11 cents an hour and some were as young as 9 years old. Tesco denied the allegations and said they were conducting their own ?internal investigation? but where there is smoke there is fire.

Research has pointed to Tesco?s mistreatment of its workers, mainly women and children, as being systemic and calculated. I do not want this company?s name associated with Everton Football Club. I do not want their dirty money buying players that don?t give a shit about Everton. Everton is different than Man City and Chelsea because we haven?t sold out to outside influences. If we do we will no longer be ?The People?s Club?, we will be a corporation.

A corporation whose track record of miserly wages and violations of child and labor laws is extremely alarming. Say no to Kirkby and so no to Tesco and their dirty money. (I will provide the links to the articles regarding the working conditions in South Africa and Bangladesh on request).