adidas expects to sell 10 million official FIFA World Cup balls, but the company will not have its “smartball” in play for the event to be held in Germany next summer. Company CEO Herbert Hainer said they sold almost six million of the 2002 World Cup ball and more than six million of the 2004 European Championships ball last year. He said the World Cup ball, which will be unveiled Friday in Leipzig, Germany, is softer and allows better control than previous balls.
That's what most players want, particularly the South Americans,” said Hainer in comments to a German magazine. He said the weight and aerodynamics of the ball would remain constant throughout a game. “It's totally inured against external influences,” he said.
Meanwhile, FIFA General Secretary Urs Linsi told reporters this week that the FIFA executive committee had decided against using the adidas smartball technology at the Club World Championship in Japan this month. The ball, which was tested at the World Under-17 Championship in Peru earlier this year, includes a microchip that enables officials eliminate mistakes on goal-line decisions.
FIFA said it made its decision regarding the smartball system, which was developed by adidas, Cairos Technologies AG and the German Fraunhofer Institute, because it was not yet considered a foolproof way of determining whether or not a goal has been scored.
adidas confirmed that the ball will not be used at the 2006 World Cup either.
“It has been decided to focus on the further development and testing of the system before using it at tournaments on the highest professional level,” adidas said in a prepared statement.
Hainer said it was possible that adidas could share the technology for the ball with other companies in future.
