Former Chairman of Pakistan Sports Goods Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PSGMEA), Professor Safdar Sandal, said, on Thursday, that Spain was a big market and has historical and cultural links with Latin American countries. All put together, they have a high potential to buy millions of footballs. The indigenous football industry of Sialkot has a promising business ahead, he added.
He also said that specialization of the Pakistan football industry is based on hand stitching which carries its own importance. On each football specifically, a 'Made by Hand' stamp is affixed on the instructions of the foreign buyers, because in Europe and America, as elsewhere in the world, a product made by hand is considered much more valuable than a machine product. Side by side another stamp, 'Made in Pakistan', is placed which gives an added value to the ball.
Sandal said that there has been a great pick up in the demand of hand stitched footballs in the past months, despite the worldwide recession. "We expect this demand to hike further in future as the performance of the mechanised ball played in the World Cup games has not been good."
Major football playing nations have expressed their dissatisfaction with the machine made ball and players have also shown signs of resentment. It has been observed that this ball does not give the desired direction to the player as it does not keep it's course when kicked. On the contrary, a hand stitched football is perfect in its bounce, balance and direction and moves according to the wishes of the player.
According to an estimate, the world requirement of hand stitched footballs is between 45 to 50 million of which 90 per cent was being met by Sialkot based industries.
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