Trade Goals: Footballs (S5 – Ep2)

Footballs are an indispensable item in the global value chain of the beautiful game. Manufacturing, distributing and selling the balls is a complex international business. It is difficult to pinpoint where in the world a ball is actually made because the sourcing of raw materials, the design and the production happen in different countries. But one thing is certain: WTO agreements play an important role in easing trade in footballs. WTO experts Roy Santana, Michael Roberts and Úna Flanagan trace the global value chain of footballs from the Servette Football Club in Geneva via Herzogenaurach, Germany to Sialkot, Pakistan. Stopovers in Uganda and Uruguay show how international standards ease trade. We talked to: Philippe Senderos, Sporting Director of Servette FC, Geneva Qasim Malik, Vice President of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce, Pakistan Nouman Butt, CEO of Capital Sports, Sialkot, Pakistan Gerardo Cal, Guide at the Estadio Centenario Football Museum in Montevideo, Uruguay Robbert de Kock, President and CEO of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, Switzerland George Opiyo, TBT National Enquiry Point, Uganda National Bureau of Standards Oliver Hundacker, Senior Director of product operations at Adidas, Germany Special thanks to Arshad Nawaz, Intern at the WTO Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC)