Decathlon ECONOMIC

Research date: 22 October 2026 Target: Decathlon Group Scope: Israeli commercial operations, franchise relationships, investment, sourcing, ownership and occupied-territory activity.

Supply Chain & Sourcing Relationships

Direct suppliers and manufacturing

Decathlon’s current sustainability disclosures describe a global manufacturing network involving more than 1,200 suppliers across approximately 45 countries or regions, with more than 2,000 employees supporting production activities; Israel is absent from the specifically enumerated countries hosting Decathlon production offices and company-owned production sites in the disclosure.¹

Decathlon separately reports more than 55 industrial partners in 2025 and describes a supplier-selection process encompassing long-term manufacturing relationships.²

No public evidence identified establishing a direct Decathlon procurement contract with Israeli agricultural exporters Mehadrin, Hadiklaim, Galilee Export or Agrexco successors.

No public evidence identified of recurring seasonal purchases of Israeli dates, avocados, citrus, herbs, potatoes or other agricultural products.

Israeli importer and supply chain

No public evidence identified from an independently retrievable shipment database establishing the total number, aggregate value or date range of imports recorded specifically against Decathlon Israel Ltd.

No public evidence identified from independently retrievable shipment records confirming that Vietnamese company Haivina Co Ltd exported goalkeeper gloves containing ethylene-vinyl acetate to Decathlon Israel Ltd on 18 June 2025 under HS code 392620.

No public evidence identified establishing the total import value, import volume or complete supplier network of Decathlon’s Israeli operations.

The Israeli website’s contractual terms, updated 21 December 2025, identify Union Sport Ltd, company number 515523256, as the website operator and a member of Union Group. Contemporary reporting independently establishes the transfer of Decathlon’s Israeli operating business to Union Group in 2025.^{3, 4}

The reviewed contractual and corporate records establish an identifiable Israeli operating structure but do not independently identify the importer of record for every current product shipment.^{3, 4}

Distribution and indirect sourcing

Decathlon Israel’s current delivery policy identifies a logistics centre at Hashaham 17, Caesarea, and describes domestic home delivery, collection points, warehouse collection and store collection.⁵

The same delivery policy identifies e-post as a provider of parcel-locker and collection-point services.⁵

The Israeli business operates an ecommerce website offering sports equipment, clothing and accessories and advertises domestic delivery and collection services.⁶

No public evidence identified establishing Israeli-origin goods reaching Decathlon stores through a particular undisclosed intermediary, white-label distributor or settlement-linked reseller.

Historical commercial entry

[pre-2020] Decathlon opened its first Israeli store in Rishon Lezion in August 2017; contemporary reporting states that the Israeli business was then directly managed by the French company rather than operated through a franchise.⁷

That historical direct operating structure was subsequently replaced by an Israeli franchise arrangement in 2025.⁸

Product Origin, Labeling & Regulatory Compliance

Product categories and origin

Decathlon Israel markets sporting goods across numerous categories, including running, football, bicycles, yoga, fitness equipment and outdoor recreation products.⁶

No public evidence identified from independently retrievable shipment records confirming the reported June 2025 import of sporting gloves from Vietnam or establishing the manufacturing origin of those particular shipments.

Decathlon’s international manufacturing disclosure does not list Israel among its named production-office or company-owned manufacturing-site locations as of 31 December 2025.¹

No public evidence identified of a Decathlon product verified as originating from an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, East Jerusalem or Golan Heights.

No public evidence identified of Decathlon selling agricultural goods originating from Israeli settlements under a misleading Israeli origin label.

Country-of-origin compliance

No public evidence identified of a DEFRA, customs-authority or other regulatory enforcement action against Decathlon concerning Israeli settlement-origin labelling.

No public evidence identified establishing a Decathlon-specific country-of-origin labelling violation involving occupied Palestinian or Syrian territories.

Corporate policy

No public evidence identified of a publicly disclosed Decathlon Group policy specifically addressing sourcing from Israeli settlements or labelling products originating in occupied territories.

Domestic delivery geography

Decathlon Israel’s published delivery policy describes domestic delivery arrangements within its Israeli retail operation.⁹

The published delivery policy provides domestic shipping arrangements but does not establish a settlement-by-settlement geographic service boundary.⁵

No public evidence identified confirming or excluding deliveries to any particular West Bank settlement, East Jerusalem settlement neighbourhood or Golan Heights settlement.

No public evidence identified of a verified customer order delivered by Decathlon Israel or Union Sport Ltd to a settlement address.

Investment, Capital & Financial Exposure

Historical direct investment

[pre-2020] Decathlon entered the Israeli retail market in August 2017 and initially operated its stores directly under French corporate management.^{7, 8}

Decathlon subsequently developed a national Israeli store network, ecommerce operations and a logistics centre in Caesarea.⁸

In July 2024, Israeli reporting announced an additional Ashdod store at BIG FASHION, with approximately 2,700 square metres of floor space and 2,100 square metres of sales area.¹⁰

The Ashdod expansion provides evidence of continued local retail development after 19 July 2024.¹⁰

2025 franchise restructuring

On 28 May 2025, Calcalist reported that Decathlon was seeking to sell its Israeli operating business as part of a wider shift towards franchising.¹¹

The reporting described an estimated NIS 100 million transaction involving 11 Israeli stores, inventory and associated leases; this was a proposed transaction valuation rather than a verified completed purchase price.¹¹

September 2025 reporting identified Union Group, associated with businessman George Horesh, as the buyer of the Israeli operating business and described the transfer as covering the stores and online retail activity.¹²

December 2025 reporting confirms that Union Group acquired the Israeli operating business and franchise rights during 2025.⁸

The Israeli online terms dated 21 December 2025 name Union Sport Ltd as the local operator.⁴

No public evidence identified establishing the final acquisition consideration, financing structure, precise asset-transfer schedule or continuing equity percentage held by Decathlon Group in the Israeli operator.

Acquired Israeli operating subsidiaries

No public evidence identified of Decathlon Group acquiring and retaining a controlling interest in an Israeli manufacturer, technology company, consumer brand, agricultural business or infrastructure company.

No public evidence identified of an Israeli acquired subsidiary with verified local manufacturing facilities, employee scale, defence contracts, settlement operations or critical-infrastructure functions.

The 2025 Union Group arrangement is publicly described as a franchise transfer of Decathlon’s Israeli commercial operation to a local group.^{8, 12}

Research and development

No public evidence identified of a Decathlon-owned Israeli R&D centre, research laboratory, technology accelerator or manufacturing innovation campus.

No public evidence identified of Decathlon receiving Israeli Innovation Authority grants or Israeli Preferred Technology Enterprise status.

Portfolio investments and sovereign finance

No public evidence identified of Decathlon Group directly holding Israeli sovereign bonds, Israel Bonds or a disclosed Israeli-focused investment portfolio.

No public evidence identified of Decathlon Group underwriting Israeli sovereign debt, providing direct state financing or operating an Israel-focused investment-management business.

No public evidence identified of Israeli military or settlement insurance underwriting, settlement-project lending or sovereign-bond distribution attributable to Decathlon.

Controlling principals and related investments

Decathlon’s 2025 corporate announcement identifies Julien Leclercq as its newly appointed board chairman and Javier López as its newly appointed chief executive officer.¹³

Decathlon describes itself as a family-owned business founded in 1976.¹⁴

No public evidence identified establishing a material personal or family-office investment into an Israeli company by founder Michel Leclercq, chairman Julien Leclercq, CEO Javier López or a verified controlling Mulliez-family investment vehicle.

No public evidence identified establishing a Decathlon Group or controlling-principal investment in an Israeli defence contractor, settlement developer or OHCHR-listed settlement enterprise.

Non-Israeli acquisition comparison

Decathlon announced in July 2025 that it would become the sole owner of the France Cyclisme professional cycling team at the end of the 2025 season, demonstrating a separately identifiable ownership transaction outside the Israeli franchise business.¹⁵

On 3 August 2026, Israeli news outlet News08 reported a partnership between the Decathlon Foundation and Eitan – Everybody Can (איתן – כל אחד יכול), an Israeli nonprofit supporting people with disabilities through sport. The partnership provides for establishing a new professional training group in Beersheba, accompanied by community activities and mentoring. This establishes a publicly documented Foundation-supported Israeli programme. The report does not disclose a monetary contribution, grant amount, payment schedule or equipment valuation, and does not independently establish whether funding has already been disbursed.¹⁶

On 22 December 2025, Israeli publication Blinker reported that the Decathlon Foundation, identified as Decathlon’s international foundation, supported the Israeli nonprofit The Equalizer (עמותת שער שוויון) and its girls’ football programme Bo’atot (בועטות). Foundation support enabled three new football groups to open in Tel Aviv, Bat Yam and Ashdod, serving girls from asylum-seeker and migrant-worker families. The Foundation’s financial contribution was not quantified, and no separate equipment donation or contractual grant terms were disclosed.¹⁷

Operational Presence & Market Activity

Retail network

Independent Israeli retail-directory information identifies Decathlon branches in Eilat, Beersheba, Gan Shmuel, Krayot, Kfar Saba and Tel Aviv, while December 2025 reporting states that ten branches would remain following the Jerusalem closure.^{18, 19}

Contemporary reporting establishes that Decathlon entered Israel in 2017, developed an Israeli retail network and subsequently transferred its local operating business to Union Group.⁸

The Israeli business’s recruitment website records the first store opening in 2017, establishment of a Caesarea logistics centre in 2022 and further expansion in 2024–2025.²⁰

The independent retail directory identifies Decathlon stores in named Israeli commercial centres, including the Azrieli shopping centre in Tel Aviv.¹⁸

No public evidence identified establishing a currently operated Decathlon store inside an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank or Golan Heights.

Jerusalem branch

A Jerusalem Talpiot store opened in April 2023 according to subsequent reporting and occupied approximately 3,500 square metres.¹⁹

On 22 December 2025, reporting confirmed that the Jerusalem branch was scheduled to close on 29 January 2026 following changes to Decathlon’s Israeli retail network.¹⁹

The Jerusalem branch was reported to be closing permanently, with ten other Israeli stores remaining in the network.¹⁹

The reviewed location evidence concerns Talpiot and does not establish that this store operated in occupied East Jerusalem.¹⁹

Logistics and ecommerce

Decathlon Israel identifies its Caesarea warehouse at Hashaham 17 and offers warehouse collection alongside home delivery and store pickup.⁵

The Israeli website continues to advertise domestic online sales and delivery services in the October 2026 research snapshot.⁶

Workforce

Decathlon Israel’s recruitment website reports approximately 500 employees serving its local operations.²⁰

The recruitment website also describes approximately 500 Israeli employees and lists positions associated with the local retail business.²⁰

Business-to-business operations

Decathlon Israel’s ecommerce website publicly identifies a B2B sporting-goods service for institutional customers.²¹

No independently retrievable evidence identified confirming the detailed institutional customer categories, product-branding arrangements or customised delivery terms previously described on the dedicated B2B page.

No public evidence identified of a named Israeli military organisation, defence ministry, settlement municipality or settlement institution purchasing through this service.

Tax and corporate registration

The Israeli website terms dated 21 December 2025 identify Union Sport Ltd as an Israeli retail company registered in Tel Aviv under number 515523256.⁴

The website displays Israeli shekel prices and states that displayed prices include VAT.⁶

No public evidence identified establishing the operator’s annual corporate-income-tax payments, effective tax rate, government subsidy receipts or preferred-enterprise tax treatment.

Israeli market positioning

Decathlon Israel maintains a domestic sporting-goods retail and ecommerce operation supported by an Israeli logistics centre and an advertised institutional-sales service.^{5, 6, 21}

Decathlon Group’s 2025 performance statement reports operations in 82 countries or regions and 1,902 stores internationally.¹³

No public evidence identified establishing a quantified Israel-specific contribution to Decathlon Group revenue or characterising Israel as a designated strategic regional hub in the reviewed global financial disclosures.

Decathlon Israel participated directly in the Foundation-supported Bo’atot initiative. At the programme’s inaugural tournament in Tel Aviv in December 2025, Israeli chief executive Yael Kalron attended alongside the participating girls. Blinker reported approximately 100 Bo’atot groups operating nationally and identified the three newly established groups as specifically attributable to Foundation support. The beneficiary organisation describes Bo’atot as combining weekly football training, educational activities and monthly tournaments. This was a distinct programme from the Foundation’s subsequently reported August 2026 partnership with Eitan in Beersheba.^{17, 22, 16}

Corporate Structure & Foundational Ties

Founding and domicile

[pre-2020] Decathlon was founded in France in 1976 and describes itself as a family-owned sporting-goods company.¹⁴

The group’s French legal information identifies Decathlon SE as a French corporate entity, with registered headquarters at 4 Boulevard de Mons, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France, and registration number 306 138 900.²³

Decathlon France is separately identified in French legal notices as a French simplified joint-stock company registered under number 500 569 405, with headquarters at the same Villeneuve-d’Ascq address.²⁴

No public evidence identified that Decathlon Group was founded in Israel, incorporated in Israel or maintains its global headquarters or principal management headquarters there.

Ownership and governance

Decathlon’s corporate disclosures describe family ownership, while its 2025 results identify Julien Leclercq as chairman and Javier López as chief executive.^{13, 14}

The group reported 52,491 employee shareholders among its global workforce at 31 December 2025.¹³

No public evidence identified establishing Israeli beneficial ownership or control of Decathlon Group.

No public evidence identified of an Israeli government golden share, government-appointed director or governance requirement linking Decathlon Group’s corporate purpose to Israeli state policy.

Israeli franchisee

December 2025 reporting establishes that Decathlon’s Israeli retail operation transferred to Union Group under a franchise arrangement in 2025.⁸

The 21 December 2025 Israeli website terms identify Union Sport Ltd, company number 515523256, as a locally registered retail company within Union Group.⁴

September 2025 reporting associates Union Group with George Horesh and describes the group’s wider Israeli commercial interests, including other international retail and automotive franchises.¹²

The reviewed evidence does not disclose a complete verified shareholder register for Union Sport Ltd or the percentages held by its ultimate beneficial owners.^{4, 12}

No public evidence identified establishing continuing majority ownership of Union Sport Ltd by Decathlon SE following the 2025 franchise transition.

State and institutional relationships

The Israeli operator publicly advertises an institutional sporting-goods sales service through its ecommerce website.²¹

No public evidence identified of a specific Decathlon contract with the Israeli Ministry of Defence, IDF or a named settlement authority.

No public evidence identified of Israeli state ownership in Decathlon Group or designation of its retail business as Israeli critical national infrastructure.

Temporal continuity

Decathlon’s Israeli business continued expanding after 19 July 2024, including the Ashdod expansion announced on 28 July 2024.¹⁰

The company’s Israeli operations remained commercially active after November 2024, as shown by the May 2025 franchise-sale process and the subsequent 2025 franchise transition.^{8, 11, 12}

The Israeli website continued to advertise the local retail and ecommerce business during the October 2026 research snapshot.⁶

The Decathlon Foundation identifies itself as an organisation created by and for Decathlon employees. Its published funding criteria require projects to benefit vulnerable populations, involve Decathlon employees directly, include sporting activity and operate through nonprofit partners. Eligible expenditure includes sporting equipment, facilities, beneficiary training and certain operational costs. These disclosures establish the Foundation’s institutional relationship with Decathlon and the types of support it can provide, but do not identify the legal funding vehicle, individual grant agreements or whether Union Sport Ltd contributed its own corporate funds to either Israeli programme.²⁵

Public corporate records reproduced by the Israeli Open Budget project identify Union Sport Ltd, company number 515523256, as an active Israeli private company incorporated on 14 September 2016, with its registered address at 1 Hasdana Street, Kfar Saba. The latest annual filing year shown by a separate commercial company-information service is 2024. These records support the company’s legal identity and continuing registration but do not independently establish its current shareholding percentages or individual directors.^{26, 27}

Contemporary Israeli reporting identifies Union Investments & Development Ltd as the proposed purchaser of 100% of Decathlon’s Israeli operating business in September 2025. Ynet identifies Union as George Horesh’s holding group and states that the transaction included the Israeli Decathlon franchise, with Union committed to investing in technology, store improvements, infrastructure and expansion. The reported 100% acquisition concerns the Israeli business being transferred; it does not, by itself, establish the final registered share allocation in Union Sport Ltd or ownership of the Decathlon brand internationally.²⁸

As of 22 October 2026 - no public evidence identified establishing the exact registered shareholding percentages, option exercise rights, option valuation, complete director register or ultimate beneficial ownership percentages of Union Sport Ltd from the freely accessible corporate records examined. The available public records and transaction reporting establish Union Investments & Development Ltd as the named acquirer but do not provide a complete authenticated shareholder extract. The available sources also do not establish whether Decathlon SE retained equity, convertible securities, purchase options or other ownership interests following the franchise transaction. Continuing commercial franchise rights are documented, but their financial and control provisions remain undisclosed.^{26, 27, 28}

Profit Repatriation & Economic Contribution

Group revenue and profitability

Decathlon Group disclosed 2025 global net sales of €16.8 billion, gross merchandise volume of €20.7 billion, EBITDA of €1.8 billion and net income of €910 million.¹³

The group also reported sales of approximately 1.23 billion products and a global workforce of 102,913 people during 2025.¹³

No public evidence identified establishing Israel-specific annual revenue, operating profit, EBITDA, net income or tax payments.

Historical profit flows

[pre-2020] Contemporary reporting established that Decathlon operated its Israeli retail business directly under French management when it entered Israel in 2017.⁷

The Israeli business subsequently expanded its store network and logistics operations before transferring to a franchise model in 2025.^{8, 12, 20}

No public evidence identified quantifying dividends, management charges or other profits repatriated from the historical Israeli subsidiary to Decathlon Group.

Current franchise economics

The 2025 transition established a locally operated Israeli franchise relationship associated with Union Group.^{8, 12}

The December 2025 website terms identify Union Sport Ltd as the company conducting the local online retail operation.⁴

The available evidence does not disclose the current contractual royalty percentage, franchise fees, wholesale purchasing margins or other payments from Union Sport Ltd to Decathlon Group.^{4, 8}

No public evidence identified establishing the proportion of Israeli retail profits distributed to Union Group shareholders or any payments subsequently flowing to Israeli or foreign beneficial owners.

Domestic economic contribution

Decathlon Israel reports approximately 500 local employees, while contemporary reporting establishes a ten-store retail network following the planned Jerusalem closure; the business also maintains a Caesarea logistics centre and an ecommerce operation.^{20, 19, 5, 6}

Its domestic delivery arrangements include parcel delivery, collection points, store collection and warehouse collection.⁵

The company publicly advertises an institutional sporting-goods sales service through its Israeli ecommerce website.²¹

These operations document employment, distribution, commercial services and retail activity within the Israeli economy, although their aggregate monetary contribution is not disclosed in the reviewed sources.^{5, 20, 21}

Sector significance

The May 2025 proposed franchise transaction was reported at an estimated NIS 100 million for the operating assets and leases associated with 11 branches.¹¹

That figure represents a reported prospective transaction valuation and does not establish the company’s annual revenue, profitability, tax contribution or final disposal consideration.¹¹

No public evidence identified of an Israeli government designation identifying Decathlon as critical national infrastructure, a dominant national supplier or an essential strategic economic operator.

Occupied-territory revenue

No public evidence identified quantifying sales, profits, franchise royalties, wholesale supply revenues or tax payments arising specifically from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem or Golan Heights.

No public evidence identified establishing settlement-specific investment assets, settlement property holdings or revenue from a named settlement institution.