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A Chinese factory has been ordered to halt production of the official World Cup mascot because of sub-standard working conditions.

Global Brand Group (GBG), the company that manages branding for Fifa, said in a statement that the Shanghai-based factory would have to make changes before it was allowed to resume production of Zakumi – a green-haired leopard that is the official mascot for this year’s tournament in South Africa.

Reuters reports that an inspection of the factory found a number of ways in which it did not meet the code of conduct for Fifa contractors.

"A corrective action plan has been put together with the manufacturer to close the gaps and make the necessary improvements," GBG said.

"In the interim, the approval for this factory to manufacture these figurines has been temporarily suspended affording them the opportunity to put in place corrective actions and measures to ensure the factory remedies its non-compliance."

South African trade unions threatened to boycott the June 11-July 11 tournament after the News of the World newspaper reported that workers at the factory were paid "pitiful" wages and forced to work in squalid conditions.

However, Shanghai Fashion Plastic Products hit back today (March 10), with a spokeswoman telling Reuters: "The accusation that we used child labour, had excessively low pay and squalid conditions etc are completely made up.

"It was only because of the high unemployment now in South Africa. Some of their politicians used our working conditions as an excuse.

"We have been one of the best companies in China in terms of working environment, pay, abiding by the law etc. We definitely met the Chinese standards.

"We are also very happy to take the advice of GBG on how to make improvements to reach international standards.

"But the reality is the pay and working conditions in China could never compete with those in Britain or Singapore."