Another official FIFA World Cup, another official FIFA World Cup ball, another series of official FIFA complaints.

The kick-off for the first game of the 2010 World Cup is still 8 days away, but already goalkeepers have begun the traditional criticism of the official “Jabulani," the latest in a long line of Adidas-designed official match balls. Brazil’s Julio Cesar went so far as to compare it to the kind of cheap plastic junkers you find in supermarkets.

While keepers’ complaints about redesigned balls are nothing new, this time even attackers are getting in on the action. Italy’s Giampolo Pazzini called it a “disaster,” backing up teammate Gianluigi Buffon’s earlier criticism that the ball’s movement is "unpredictable."


Even coaches have complained about the new ball. Denmark’s Morten Olsen cited the new ball as a “cause” for Tuesday morning’s friendly loss to Australia. His team will have to adapt quickly - their opener against the Netherlands is less than two weeks away.

However, new balls in the World Cup aren’t even, well … new. The “classic” black and white soccer ball synonymous with The Beautiful Game didn’t even exist until 1970. The Telstar, as it was named, was designed by Adidas as the first official FIFA World Cup ball based on the icosahedron designs of architect Buckminster Fuller (of course). Before that, most soccer balls were built with white or brown panels, much like a modern volleyball.

Ever since then, Adidas has designed a new official FIFA ball for every World Cup. Colors have changed (the original black and white balls were designed for black and white television sets), leather has been replaced with synthetic composites and the traditional 32 panels have been reduced to eight thanks to a newfangled heat-bonding process.

While fresh ball designs for the World Cup have been around for 40 years, so have the complaints. The “Teamgeist” ball developed for the 2006 Cup was just as unpopular with goalkeepers, although strikers couldn't have been too upset with the unpredictable movement of the streamlined balls.

The complaints will likely continue with every new ball, with every new World Cup -- soccer players should probably just get used to it. As long as there are merchandising opportunities and new polycarbonate synthetic materials that can be bonded together using futuristic space-age bonding techniques, there will continue to be new balls. After all, soccer players should remember that the “Jabulani” concept isn't exactly revolutionary. As Spain’s Alvaro Arbeloa pointed out, the ball is still “round like all the others.”