Across the world people are glued at screens cheering at 22 men kicking a ball around. The ball in question is Telstar 18, the latest in ball technology with polyurethane coated textiles and waterborne heat activated adhesive. This enables it to have great flight characteristics, superb water resistance as well as optimal handling as the ball immediately returns to its spherical shape after being deformed when kicked. It is also equipped with Near Field Communication technology with an embedded chip. And this ball is made in Pakistan.
Adidas’s contract to Pakistan for the 2018 FIFA world cup is not a one-off event. Pakistan also supplied the 2014 FIFA ball, Brazuca, which had initially been contracted to a Chinese company. However Adidas’ main manufacturer in China was unable to meet the demand and the Pakistani company Forward Sports got the order on short notice, and was able to fulfill it.
The sports good industry of Pakistan is a home grown sector that mushroomed out of homes in Sialkot. The story goes that Silakot’s ball production dates back to British colonial times when it would take too long for footballs to arrive by sea. Apparently, in 1889 a British sergeant asked a Sialkoti saddle maker to repaid a punctured soccer ball and please with results, put an order for a batch of balls. Since then, the small city has been supplying footballs to Europe.
The history of Pakistan making footballs for FIFA dates back to 1982 when Sialkot produced the Tango ball used in the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Though the market for footballs is dominated by Chinese machine manufactured footballs, nearly 50 percent of hand-sewn footballs are made in Pakistan. German Bundesliga, French League and Champions League balls are sourced from Sialkot as well.
Comprising mostly of footballs and gloves, sports goods exports have grown by about 33 percent over the last decade. Contributing about half a billion, sports goods are one of the few value added products that Pakistan has on its export portfolio.
The football sector in particular has gained international prominence with over 37 million balls exported so far this year. In the past an idea of a “football village” has been floated which would provide training and development facilities. Though TDAP has organized exports and fairs, such as Sportec to be held in Tokyo this month, more awareness needs to be raised to further disassociate the industry from allegations of child labour. Technology and equipment have to be upgraded to better enable the sector to compete internationally.
The lack of government support can be gauged from the fact that Sialkot’s International Airport was the sole initiative of the corporate sector, brought about through private public partnership. Along with sports goods, surgical goods is another industry that managed to grow organically and compete internationally rather than through government support and was instrumental in setting up the airport.