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| Type | Football |
|---|---|
| Inception | March 2022 |
| Manufacturer | Adidas |
| Available | Yes |
| Current supplier | Forward Sports |
| Part of a series on the |
| 2022 FIFA World Cup |
|---|
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 Media related to2022 FIFA World Cup at Wikimedia Commons |
TheAdidas Al Rihla (Arabic:الْرِّحْلَة,romanized: ar-riḥla,lit. 'The Journey') is aball forassociation football produced byAdidas. It was theofficial match ball of the2022 FIFA World Cup inQatar and has also been used as the official match ball for theSaudi Professional League andQatar Stars League for the 2022-23 season. The ball contains a suspendedinertial measurement unit inside its bladder that supplies thevideo assistant referee with instantaneous, highly detailed ball movement data. The ball was designed for sustainability, being the firstFIFA World Cup official match ball to be produced with environmentally friendly inks and adhesives.[1]
Adidas unveiled Al Rihla on March 30, 2022.[2][3] The presentation in Qatar featured former World Cup winnersKaká (Brazil) andIker Casillas (Spain), as well asFarah Jefry (Saudi Arabia) andNouf Al Anzi (United Arab Emirates).[4][5] Al Rihla meansThe Journey orThe Trip inArabic.[6]Rihla is also a traditional genre ofArabic literature about journeys, such as the 14th century travelogue ofIbn Battuta, known simply asThe Rihla.[7]
About 70% of the world's supply of footballs is produced inSialkot.[8] Pakistani-based multinational companyForward Sports providedFIFA with 35% of over 300,000 Al Rihla match balls.[9] It manufactured 5.5 million balls in 2022 including 60,000 high quality replicas used by teams for training in Qatar.[10] Adidas subcontracted Forward Egypt, a subsidiary of Forward Sports, to produce 1500 balls.[11][12] For souvenir sale, replicas of Al Rihla were also provided and produced by Adidas, but its production subcontracted to another company inMadiun, Indonesia, Global Way.[13][14]
FIFA andQatar Airways partnered withSpaceX on aFalcon 9 mission. OnEutelsatHotbird 13F mission (launched on 15 October 2022), the first stageB1069.3 included a hosted promotional payload by FIFA, that was a box powered byStarlink containing 2 Adidas Al Rihla balls, that were to be used in2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.[15]
Al Rihla's membrane is made of twenty seamless, thermally bondedpolyurethane panels.[16][17] Its "Speedshell" surface is textured withdebossed macro and micro patterns, meant to improve the ball's flight stability and swerve.[17][6] Franziska Loffelmann, a design director at Adidas, describes Al Rihla as "the fastest and most accurate FIFA World Cup ball to date."[6] Independent testing of the ball revealed that it has similar performance characteristics to the predecessorTelstar 18 andBrazuca balls.[18]
The ball also features "connected ball technology," a suspension system inside the ball's bladder with aninertial measurement unit (IMU) at the center to provide thevideo assistant referee (VAR) with highly accurate ball movement data within seconds.[19][20] This technology was developed withFIFA andKinexon based in Munich.[19][20]
According to FIFA, the visuals are inspired by theculture, architecture,Dhow boats andflag of Qatar.[6] The blue, red, and yellow color scheme that is meant to represent the landscape of Qatar.[21]On the "Pro" version of the ball one can read "Football is..." and all around "teamwork - fair play - collective - responsibility - passion - respect" in six languages:English,Arabic,Mandarin Chinese,French,Spanish, andEsperanto.[22]
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The match ball for the2022 FIFA World Cup Final was announced on 11 December 2022. It is a variation of the Al Rihla named theAdidas Al Hilm (Arabic:الحلم,romanized: al-ḥulm,lit. 'the dream', a reference to "every nation's dream of lifting the FIFA World Cup").[23]Whilst the technical aspects of the ball are the same, the colour is different from the Al-Rihla balls used in the group stages and preceding knockout games, with aGold Metallic, maroon,Collegiate Burgundy, and red design, a reference to thenational colors of host nationQatar and the golden colors shared by theFinal'svenue and theFIFA World Cup Trophy. The Al Hilm was used for the Semi-finals, 3rd position playoff and the final of the World Cup 2022. It is the fifth special ball for FIFA World Cup semi-final/final matches, the other four being the+Teamgeist Berlin (2006), theJo'bulani (2010), theBrazuca Final Rio (2014), and theTelstar Mechta (2018).[citation needed]
Al Hilm has the same languages as Al Rihla, but in another configuration.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Preceded by | FIFA World Cup official ball 2022 | Succeeded by TBD |
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