Sports Articles

Facts About Soccer Balls

Soccer balls are used in the sport of football, also knows as soccer. The rules of the game specify that socccer balls be filled with air. Soccer balls are supposed to have a circumference of 68-70 centimeters and a weight of 14-16 ounces. The pressure of soccer balls is supposed to stay between 8.5 and 15.6 pounds per square inch.

Soccer balls are required to be covered in leather or other suitable material. The weight of soccer balls is measured by dry weight. The standard size for soccer balls is Size 5. Sizes smaller than 5 exist for underage games and as novelty items.

Most modern soccer balls are stitched from 32 panels of waterproof leather or plastic. The panels are twelve regular pentagons and twenty regular hexagons. This thirty two panel configuration is similar to the truncated icosahedron. The difference is that soccer balls are more spherical.

The first of the thirty two panel soccer balls was first made and marketed in the 1950?s but was not hugely popular until after the 1970 World Cup. Thirty two panel soccer balls were popularized by Adidas with their Adidas Telstar soccer balls because they were the official balls of the 1970 World Cup.

The soccer balls made by Adidas for the 2006 World Cup were fourteen panels and were a truncated octahedrons. The Adidas soccer balls for the 2006 World Cup were not made in Pakistan like eighty percent of all soccer balls are. They were made in Thailand.

Child labor has historically been used in the making of soccer balls in Pakistan. This practice has lessened since mass protesting of the practice in 1996 during the European championship.

The protests were effective in that they eventually led to the Atlanta Agreement. The Atlanta Agreement forces manufacturers of soccer balls to make sure that no child labor is involved in the fabrication of their products.

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