70% of world’s football demand caters Sialkot

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has said to have saved local football industry from losing its share in international market by establishing a Sports Industries Development Center (SIDC) at Sialkot with the support of federal government that provided Rs 436 million to execute the project.

SMEDA officials said that Sialkot was catering to around 70 percent of total world demand of hand stitched inflatable balls, which translate into around 40 million balls annually by providing direct employment facility to over 200,000 individuals. They said that total exports of sports goods during 2014 were $260 million with inflatable balls worth $211 million, while major exporters were Germany with 14 percent, UK 10 percent, USA 8 percent and Netherlands 7 percent.

SMEDA office-bearers said that the sports goods sector was facing the major threat in the form of mechanised inflatable ball; in which medium end technology was used to produce a ball having most of the characteristics of hand stitched ball. This new ball had been tested and played in a number of international football tournaments including UEFA EURO 2004 and FIFA World cup held in 2006.

They said that SMEDA during its interaction with sports sector stakeholders identified the problem requirement and developed a project that would provide a long-term solution that has a potential to be a game changer for the local industry.