As part of the overall objective to improve sustainability in football, the FIFA Quality Programme carried out an industry survey to establish which developments in the life cycle of the ball will help achieve this target. 

The FIFA Quality Programme for Footballs has set the standard for this key piece of equipment for more than two decades with a strong focus on technical requirements and ensuring suitable manufacturing conditions. The well-established testing criteria for size 5, size 4, Futsal and Beach Soccer balls that ensure consistent, reproducible and durable products and the pledge system developed with the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry based on third party social audits in the production facilities have proven very successful means to ensure a minimum quality of balls used in the game. In line with FIFA’s overall strategy, a particular focus in the last year has been studying the environmental impact of football production, use and disposal. An industry survey, carried out at the end of 2018, shows that the overwhelming majority of ball manufacturers is already addressing this issue in one way or another but does agree that further development is needed. It further outlines the measures they see as key for improving the environmental impact in the future ranging from materials used, impacts of transportation to waste-disposal strategies. For more information download the Environmental Protection in the Production of Footballs.