Pak-made footballs to be used in FIFA World Cup 2022

KARACHI: Although, Pakistan is currently facing suspension from international football due to third party’s interference but the country still makes headlines in the world’s richest sport for positive reasons. It is producing footballs which will be used once again during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in November-December in Qatar, the first Gulf nation which will be hosting the global showpiece whose draws were held a few days ago in Doha, a day after the FIFA Congress.

The match-ball is named as Al-Rihla, which means ‘the journey’, and is manufactured in Pakistan by Adidas through ‘Forward Sports’, a Sialkot-based company. This is the third time that the brand of ‘Forward Sports’ will be used in the World Cup. “This is the third time that our product will be used in the World Cup. Before this we had made footballs for the 2014 and 2018 World Cups also,” Forward Sports Managing Director Hassan Masood told The News Thursday. “This brand, which will be used in Qatar World Cup, is too much responsive and is faster. The 25 percent elements, which have been used in this brand, are sustainable and this brand is made of re-cycled material,” Hassan said.

He said 3,000 footballs will be used during the World Cup in Qatar while their replicas sale target is eight million. “Its weight ranges from 425 to 445 grams while its size is from 68.8 cm to 69.3 cm,” he added.

Meanwhile, according to FIFA, it has been designed to back peak game speeds as it travels faster in flight than any ball in the tournament’s history. “This is a stunning, sustainable and high-quality official match ball from Adidas that will be enjoyed by stars performing at the top of their game on the world’s biggest stage in Qatar, as well as grassroot players everywhere,” FIFA’s Director Marketing Jean-François Pathy said.

“Al-Rihla’s worldwide journey will represent the incredible reach of the FIFA World Cup and give fans a unique opportunity to engage with the event as excitement builds ahead of the big kick-off.”