Football - Soccer Ball

A football is a ball used to play one of the various sports known as football. In the distant past, crude balls such as inflated pigs' bladders were used, but balls are now designed by teams of engineers to exacting specifications. Each code of football uses a different ball, though they all belong to one of two different basic shapes:

1. a sphere: used in Association football (also called soccer in some countries) and Gaelic football
2. a prolate spheroid ('oval-shaped')
* either with rounded ends: used in Rugby football and Australian football
* or with more pointed ends: used in American football and Canadian football

The precise shape and construction of footballs is typically specified as part of the rules and regulations.

It is vital to check for WASPS before a game of association football begins. This is due to the fact that "No Wasps means No game". A fully complient ball is more crucial to the game than any other element and as such WASPS is widely promoted in the refereeing community.

Dimensions

Law 2 of the game specifies that the ball is an air-filled sphere with a circumference of 68–70 cm (or 27–28 inches), a weight 410–450 g (or 14–16 ounces), inflated to a pressure of 8–12 psi, and covered in leather or "other suitable material".[1] The weight specified for a ball is the dry weight, as older balls often became significantly heavier in the course of a match played in wet weather. The standard ball is a Size 5, although smaller sizes exist: Size 3 is standard for team handball and Size 4 in futsal and other small-field variants. Other sizes are used in underage games or as novelty items.

Construction

Most modern footballs are stitched from 32 panels of waterproofed leather or plastic: 12 regular pentagons and 20 regular hexagons. The 32-panel configuration is the spherical polyhedron corresponding to the truncated icosahedron; it is spherical because the faces bulge due to the pressure of the air inside. The first 32-panel ball was marketed by Select in the 1950s in Denmark. This configuration became common throughout Continental Europe in the 1960s, and was publicised worldwide by the Adidas Telstar, the official ball of the 1970 World Cup.
The official match ball of the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Older balls were usually stitched from 18 oblong non-waterproof leather panels, similar to the design of modern volleyballs and Gaelic footballs, and laced to allow access to the internal air bladder. This configuration is still common.

Most modern footballs are stitched from 32 panels of waterproofed leather or plastic: 12 regular pentagons and 20 regular hexagons. The 32-panel configuration is the spherical polyhedron corresponding to the truncated icosahedron; it is spherical because the faces bulge due to the pressure of the air inside. The first 32-panel ball was marketed by Select in the 1950s in Denmark. This configuration became common throughout Continental Europe in the 1960s, and was publicised worldwide by the Adidas Telstar, the official ball of the 1970 World Cup.
The official match ball of the 2006 FIFA World Cup

Older balls were usually stitched from 18 oblong non-waterproof leather panels, similar to the design of modern volleyballs and Gaelic footballs, and laced to allow access to the internal air bladder. This configuration is still common.