Soccer's governing body, in response to growing international criticism over the unpredictable play of its World Cup soccer ball, has acknowledged the sphere's shortcomings and said it will fully investigate the claims in a post-tournament investigation.
Speaking to reporters in Johannesburg last Saturday, Jerome Valcke, the secretary general of FIFA, fought back against suggestions that the organization was being "deaf" to the outcry over the Adidas-developed Jabulani ball. "FIFA is not unreceptive about what has been said about the ball," he said. Most eye-opening was his admission that "this is a very different ball perhaps."
It's been a rough tournament so far for FIFA, which has seen on-field heroics from the likes of Spain's David Villa and US star Landon Donovan overshadowed by claims of referee incompetency coupled with a general unwillingness to implement potentially match-altering technology for the good of the sport. The finals of the World Cup are to be held in Johannesburg on July 11, and FIFA has not indicated yet how soon the investigation will commence after that. Although, FIFA president Joseph Blatter has even taken to Twitter and FIFA.com to apologize for any shortcomings and to clarify the organization's stance on such matters.
The ball was developed by Adidas in conjunction with academic engineers in Britain, comprising months of research in the lab as testing under real-world conditions on the pitch. And, although every participating country in the World Cup has had months to get acclimated to the ball – aside from officially approving its usage in February – many sides seem to have been caught off-guard. Last week, researchers at Caltech performed in-lab experimentation on the Jabulani and determined that the ball does indeed behave in inexplicable ways.
Of course, World Cup soccer balls have a history of offering up unexpected play during the world's most popular sporting tournament. But it was perhaps appropriate that Valcke's comments came on a day when Uruguay's Luis Suarez scored a match-winning goal (video above) against South Korea that, considering how close he was to the goalmouth, seemed to defy several laws of physics. And although British goalkeeper Robert Green wouldn't blame the Jabulani after botching Clint Dempsey's strike during England's group-stage matchup against the United States, his manager, Fabio Capello, wasn't so tight-lipped.
"This ball is the worst ball that I have seen in my life," Capello said. In a few weeks time, FIFA will know if all the other sides feel the same way.
