Chinese firm makes 30,000 World Cup balls a day
21/02/2014
Workers at Heima Sports Supplies in Jiangxi Province cut the “environmentally friendly” leather into 32 panels, stitch them together and send them to the printing room where each colour or image requires a new layer of ink. A bladder is added and they are inflated.
"The sponsors will come to check the quality of the balls,” said Zhang Bo, a general manager's assistant at the company, adding that the balls should be able to endure more than 2,000 kicks.
However, while Mr Zhang says, "The leather we use is environmentally friendly, non-toxic and easy to recycle," it is not clear if it actually is real leather - most soccer balls are now made from synthetic materials, with only cricket, Australian Rules football and American Football insisting on leather balls.
Share this story:
