UK tax inspectors are investigating Goal.com, which bills itself as the world’s largest football website
, over its widespread use of unpaid interns, the Guardian can reveal.
The site has confirmed it uses a roster of 30 unpaid interns across seven days a week to file match reports and write other content for its UK edition.
Its parent company, Perform, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, says Goal.com attracts an average 24 million unique users a month and last year generated £4m in advertising and sponsorship revenue. Perform, which bought Goal.com for £18m in February last year, posted total revenues of £103m for 2011.
A copy of a Goal.com staff schedule seen by the Guardian appears to show between five and seven interns a day being used between 7am and midnight to file news and match reports. Perform told the Guardian it had 22 full-time staff, plus paid freelancers — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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