Balls!

Today we are going to think about something that is fundamental to the game of football. The football itself.

It is the sort of thing that can easily be taken for granted. After all it is just a ball. Or is it?

The FA has clear rules about the size, shape, materials, level of inflation and weight. Most modern footballs are made of 32 panels of leather or plastic, although there are variations on this. For example there is a 50 panel ball that increases flight time. The Nike Total 90 Aerow has rings intended to aid goalkeepers to determine the spin on the ball. There is even a prediction that in 2010, a newly shaped football will be in use which will have 92 leather flaps, the majority of which will be triangles and the rest will be squares and octagons.

80% of association footballs are made in a place called Sailkot, in Pakistan. Until 1997 this largely relied upon child labour. Following a campaign by activists in 1996 during the European cup, however, this situation was challenged, resulting in the Atlanta Agreement. Now no child under the age of 15 should be involved in the production of footballs.

Of course not everyone is lucky enough to have a proper football to play with. Despite football being a passion amongst people, especially children, all over the world, some have to be satisfied with a makeshift version.

Humbling isn't it.