The Fifa World Cup Ball. The photo on the right side will be the official ball that will used in the upcoming Fifa World Cup 2010 in South Africa this June. The Adidas is still the makers of the ball which has made every ball for the World Cup since 1970.
The balls nicknamed Jabulani, which means “rejoice” or “celebration” in Zulu are measured in 16 different places, and the diameter can’t vary by more than 1.5%. They are dropped from more than six feet onto a steel plate and must bounce 4 ½ to five feet. They are turned and squeezed 250 times in a water tank and can’t absorb more than 10% of their weight. They are inflated and observed for 72 hours during which they can’t lose more than 20% of their pressure. They must withstand minimal damage after being fired at a steel plate 2,000 times.
There are also critics about the design of the balls and ask why is it the every world cup, the ball changes? Of course money is the motivation factor on why the ball is design like these. Fifa will sell some replicas of the ball in different size and in return the Fifa will receive royalty sales for the balls. Many goalkeeper also skeptical about the balls as they are now less predictable in flights.
