The
Jabulani is the official match
ball for the
2010 FIFA World Cup. The ball, created by sports manufacturer
Adidas, was developed at
Loughborough University in the UK, and was unveiled in
Cape Town, South Africa on December 4, 2009.
Jabulani means "rejoice" or "bring joy and happiness" in
Zulu. A gold colour version
Jo'bulani is for the World Cup final and an orange colour version
Jabulani Powerorange is for snow game.
The ball was also used as the match ball of
2009 FIFA Club World Cup in the
United Arab Emirates, and a special version of the ball, the
Jabulani Angola, was the match ball of the
2010 African Cup of Nations. This ball was also used in the
2009-10 Bundesliga, the
2010 Clausura Tournament of
Argentina as well as the
2010 MLS season in the
USA and
Canada in the league's colors of blue and green.
Design
The ball is constructed using a new design, consisting of eight (down from 14 in the last World Cup) thermally bonded, three-dimensional panels. These are spherically molded from
ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and
thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU). The surface of the ball is textured with grooves, a technology developed by Adidas called Grip′n′Groove
[1] that are intended to improve the ball's aerodynamics. The design has received considerable academic input, being developed in partnership with researchers from
Loughborough University, United Kingdom.
[2]
Technical specification
| FIFA Approved standard[3] | Jabulani measurements[3] |
| Circumference | 68.5–69.5 cm | 69.0 ± 0.2 cm |
| Diameter | ≤ 1.5% difference | ≤ 1.0% difference |
| Water absorption | ≤ 10% weight increase | ~ 0% weight increase |
| Weight | 420 - 445 g | 440 ± 0.2 g |
| Rebound test | ≤ 10 cm | ≤ 6 cm |
| Loss of pressure | ≤ 20% | ≤ 10% |
Colouring
The ball has four triangular design elements on a white background. Eleven different colours are used, representing the eleven players in a football team, the eleven
official languages of South Africa, and the eleven South African communities.
[4] The Jabulani Angola, used at the
2010 African Cup of Nations in
Angola, was coloured to represent the yellow, red, and black of the
host nation's flag.
[5] For the final game, a special match ball will be used with gold panels.
Manufacturing
The balls are made in
China, using natural
Kerala latex
[6] bladders from
India, thermoplastic polyurethane-elastomer from
Taiwan, ethylene vinyl acetate, isotropic polyester/cotton fabric, glue, and ink from China.
[7] The retail price is ~ US$110
[8]
World Cup Final ball
A gold version of the Jabulani ball, the
Jo'bulani, was announced as the ball for the World Cup Final. The name of the ball inspired by the city of
Johannesburg, which is often affectionately nicknamed Jo'burg and will be the site of the 2010 Final. The color also refers to the city of Johannesburg: Johannesburg is also nicknamed "eGoli" (/egɔli/) in Zulu (from the English word "Gold" and "Rhawutini" (/xaʊtini/) in Xhosa or "Gauteng /xaʊˈtɛŋ/" in other official languages—from the Afrikaans word "goud" which means "gold".The only teams able to use this special version will be the two teams in the final.
This is the second World Cup Final ball to be produced, the other being the
+Teamgeist Berlin for the
2006 FIFA World Cup.
