After five years of research and development, Adidas launched the 'Jabulani' ball for the 2010 World Cup. The ball, which is lighter and technologically more advanced than previous balls, has been at the centre of controversy with even footballers who score goals complaining about it. It is extremely rare for a footballer who scores a goal to complain about it but that is the odd thing about this new ball. The ball looks likely to be a source for more problems for players and goalkeepers as the tournament progresses.
The Jabulani ball was revealed with too much fanfare and celebration before the start of this World Cup but it seems along the way it has been embroiled in a serious controversy. Football is about scoring goals and fans come to watch goals being scored. The ball is a big part of this and makes a big difference in the quality of a game being played. The official website for the new 2010 ball provides us with the following information about the ball. "[T]he ball retains its shape, and the lack of seaming means there is essentially zero water retention, which will reduce sluggishness of the ball. The weight is interesting - being towards the higher end of the allowed scale means the flight will be truer and more predictable making keepers happy, but also rewarding accuracy for strikers".
The above quote is in stark contrast to what players and coaches have been saying about the ball. "Sven-Goran Eriksson has called for a summit of players and coaches to discuss the controversial World Cup ball and urged FIFA to listen to their concerns". He isn't the only one, besides goalkeepers who say the ball flies oddly through the air and drops strangely at other times, the US player who scored the goal against England also criticised the ball. "[T]he guy who scored the goal, Clint Dempsey, even he said that ball is very difficult to read. What is interesting to see is whether this has happened in any other World Cup or is this the first one where the ball has been controversial.
The ball used in the World Cup has, for the most part, always been controversial. When players can't score they blame the ball. When goalies can't stop shots, they blame the ball and when coaches lose matches they blame the ball. It seems the poor manufacturers cannot win when it comes to ball design. They in their own minds and through years of research and scientific analysis produce the best ball that they feel will give fans and players the best tournament ever, but then their creation is panned by everyone and becomes controversial. It seems the best thing the company can do is just stop listening to what people say about their ball. "[I]f you go back to the first World Cup where Adidas provided the official match ball, back in the '70s, the one with the white and black geometric shapes. That was widely panned. People didn't like it". So it seems that no matter what the manufacturer does, its ball will be criticised at every tournament.
The ball controversy has some champions on the side of the ball as well though. A UK scientist has been quoted as saying this ball is the most stable ever and it is very well designed and technologically excellent. "If the ball goes off target more often it is not because it is unpredictable, but because it travels five per cent faster, according to Andy Harland, a sports technologist at Loughborough University who led the aerodynamic testing and design of the football". It seems that teams are not used to a new ball and maybe a new policy should be implemented to give every team ample time to practice with the new ball before a tournament starts.
With the World Cup well under way, we have seen the ball playing a big part in a lot of matches and causing issues for all those involved. A common sight has been one where the ball is kicked way over the goal in an attempt to score. Since the ball is going to be controversial in every World Cup, it should just be taken as a given fact that this will happen and players should just get on with it and try their best. Maybe less whining about the ball is needed and more quality play is in order.
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