The Controversial Adidas Jabulani World Cup Ball

With all the controversy surrounding this year’s Adidas World Cup ball called the Jabulani, I thought it might be interesting to repost a video I had up on the site last December called The Making of “Jabulani”.

While the ball may be slightly more lively, remember, many of these games are played at altitude and that too has a big effect on the ball. Perhaps between the two factors the ball is moving a bit more. The New York Daily News even has a story showing the Mexican National team training their keepers with American footballs to help them with the unpredictability of the ball. However, IMS friend Bruce McGuire of duNord Football was quick to point out in a recent conversation that the ball MLS is using this year is virtually the same ball with a different face. How many complaints have you heard form MLS players this year about the ball? I haven’t heard a one.

Ball controversy at the World Cup is nothing new. Every world cup there seems to be complaints about the new ball. In a post made last April at IMS, Scott Kerssen pointed out the controversy of the 1970 World Cup black and white paneled ball called the “Bucky Ball“. In 2002 and 2006 there were also complaints about the ball.