Obligatory "it's football not soccer" comment from the Brit.
That aside, this is a fabulous thing. Anyone can play football in tight spaces with a group and on their own. Being the biggest sport on the planet, it's a marvellous thing that you can go literally anywhere and ask someone to play a game and you pretty much all know the simple rules. I'll always get behind things like this.
and they're much cheaper than the proposed one (you can get them for 1-2 dollars), but probably way less durable.
"A lion at the Johannesburg Zoo, who would go through six regular balls a day, played with two balls. A German shepherd spent a year biting on a ball. In every case, the balls withstood the abuse."
That does sound durable. As stated, U$ 40 is way too expensive for a ball, so the only way it will work is if they continue giving them away as part of relief efforts.
Unicef: "“compared to the $2.50 we pay for a regular football, the current cost difference for the more durable solution is currently too high.”"
And the shipping problems are also a hindrance.
"because the balls cannot be deflated, they are more difficult to ship"
Not a Brit, but yeah, it is football to the world at large.
Congratulations to Sting and Tim Jahnigen, this is heart warming.
Regarding the cost of the balls, I think when you factor in a 30 year life and assume a cost of $30 per ball, we are looking at a $1/year cost. The up front cost might be higher, and that is an issue, but the actual cost per ball/year is a heckuva lot less. I'm not sure what kind of calculation Unicef is doing when they say “compared to the $2.50 we pay for a regular football, the current cost difference for the more durable solution is currently too high.”
Their funds are finite and the increased cost of a football would take away funds for other goods and services which they deliver. They need to prioritize their the current needs and demands, not just optimize for the long term cost of a football.
I ignored the other comment, but since people are trying to quote stuff, I feel it's important to put it right. Football is the official name in the United Kingdom and especially England. We don't have the Association Football Association but rather the Football Association. It doesn't not have a prefix when it's referred to in any form of media at all. 'Beach Soccer' has no relevance here.
"Association Football: the game controlled by FIFA and organised in accordance with the Laws of the Game."
[FIFA Statutes, July 2012 edition, page 5 (definition 12)]
This definition applies to the FA per it's constitution and bylaws.
"All Clubs and Aiffliated Associations shall play and/or administer football in conformity with
these Rules and also:
(a) The Laws of the Game (as defifned in the Articles); and
(b) the statutes and regulations of FIFA and UEFA which are in force from time to time."
[THE RULES OF THE FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, page 1]
Oh, I see what you've done there. In the very thing you quote, it refers to Football and Football Associations. For further reference, we look no further than Federation of International Football Associations and Union of European Football Associations. Which is not FIAFA nor UEAFA.
Agreed. Some of my happiest times playing football were on a small side street using a dustbin as a goal net. There's a reason it's by far the most popular sport in the world and as such this news can only be a good thing.
If any of you is ever in Uganda hit me up for a game of football. That aside i wish this had come when i was still younger. I remember inflating polythene that was used for packaging 1ltr milk sachets and using tyre tubes as strings for holding up these packagings and for football we lived. I should post a how to video for that come to think of it.
It is my belief that the common usage of this word will be an indicator when the English language stops being defined by its native speakers and starts being defined by its more numerable foreign speakers.
In most languages, it is called something very similar to football.
Since I don't have a native English language, I prefer to call it football for that reason. I don't give a damn about its history, soccer's origin as association football, etc etc.
Football is Fussball is fotboll is futbol is fudbold is futebol is futball is fútbol is ..
No it won't, it'll indicate when the sporting options available to people have shrunk so that they no longer need words to differentiate between football (soccer), football (gaelic), football (Aussie Rules), football (rugby league), football (rugby union), football (gridiron) and any other kinds I'm not aware of.
A native speaker is someone who grew up with the given language as a primary language, not someone who comes from the country the language is named after.
Up until a few years ago, a lot of the english-speaking world called it soccer: Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the US, Canada. It is called 'sokker' in Afrikaans. Additionally, in Japan is is most commonly called 'sakka'.
Brits were truly the only ones calling it Football.
I guess I'll make the obligatory American comment that we should ship them balls used for Stickball (American not Australian game) so when they grow up they would become fans of Baseball.
If you're going to be pedantic, then you might as well at least go all the way. The sport is called "association football". It is correct for Americans to call it soccer because, well, that's the most common name for it here.
That aside, this is a fabulous thing. Anyone can play football in tight spaces with a group and on their own. Being the biggest sport on the planet, it's a marvellous thing that you can go literally anywhere and ask someone to play a game and you pretty much all know the simple rules. I'll always get behind things like this.