June 16 (Reuters) - Adidas has launched an

investigation into allegations of large-scale bribery in China

after the company received a whistleblower complaint that

accused senior staff of embezzling "millions of euros", the

Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The anonymous letter, which claims to have been written by

"employees of Adidas China", names several Chinese Adidas

employees including a senior manager involved with the marketing

budget in the country, which the document said stood at 250

million euros ($267.5 million) a year, the FT reported.

Adidas confirmed that it had received an anonymous letter on

June 7 indicating potential compliance violations in China. The

German sportswear company said it was investigating this matter

together with external legal counsel.

"Adidas takes allegations of possible compliance violations

very seriously and is clearly committed to complying with legal

and internal regulations and ethical standards in all markets

where we operate," it said in a statement issued in response to

a Reuters query. Adidas said it could not provide further

information until the investigation was completed.

According to the FT, the letter alleges that Adidas staff

received kickbacks from external service providers who were

commissioned by the company that include "millions in cash from

suppliers, and physical items such as real estate".

China sales of the German sportswear giant grew by 8% in the

first-quarter, the company reported earlier.

($1 = 0.9346 euros)