Post by Macmoish on Jul 6, 2010 16:58:35 GMT
World Cup Blog
Craig Johnston’s 12-Page Jabulani Letter to Sepp Blatter
July 6th, 2010 | by: Daryl | Comments Comments (0)
Does anyone out there remember Craig Johnston? If not, you probably should. Johnston was a South African born Australian striker who played in England for both Middlesbrough and Liverpool in the 1980s. After retirement, Johnston went on to design the football boot that would become the adidas Predator. So the man knows his stuff. And he is not a fan of the adidas Jabulani. Not a fan at all.
In fact Johnston is so upset with the impact the Jabulani has had on World Cup 2010 that he’s written a 12 page open letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, filled with stats about how many mis-hit passes and off target shots the World Cup ball has caused and the collected quotes from numerous World Cup players about just how much they hate playing with this thing.
The letter is very direct, definitely heartfelt, and more than a little angry. It also includes the best opening paragraph of any letter I’ve ever read:
Dear Mr. Blatter
If a sponsor came into your office before the World Cup and said: ‘We are going to give you a new, perfectly round match ball, the players won’t like it at all, there will be more mistakes made than in any other World Cup, there will be less goals scored, less free-kicks scored, less passes complete, less control by players and roughly 70% of crosses and shots on goal will miss wide and go way over the crossbar. What would you say to them?
I am risking my reputation and goodwill within certain football circles by writing this open letter to yourself and anybody else who is interested in the Jabulani ball issue and why its endorsement by FIFA could ruin the game as we now know it.
Johnston goes on to suggest that maybe FIFA just switch back to an older adidas ball, but keep the graphic design of the Jabulani. I think we all know that’s not going to happen. But in a larger sense Johnston’s letter is a plea for FIFA to think more about what’s good for football and good for the tournament than about what’s good for sponsors like adidas. Even if the full 12 pages of Johnston’s letter aren’t enough to convince Blatter, I’m willing to bet that the significant bad publicity the Jabulani has received will at least make both Blatter and adidas a little more careful in future.
COMPLETE LETTER
www.docshare.com/doc/223643/CJ-Mr-Blatter-Letter-re-Jabulani-Ball-July-20
www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/craig-johnstons-12-page-jabulani-letter-to-sepp-blatter.html
Craig Johnston’s 12-Page Jabulani Letter to Sepp Blatter
July 6th, 2010 | by: Daryl | Comments Comments (0)
Does anyone out there remember Craig Johnston? If not, you probably should. Johnston was a South African born Australian striker who played in England for both Middlesbrough and Liverpool in the 1980s. After retirement, Johnston went on to design the football boot that would become the adidas Predator. So the man knows his stuff. And he is not a fan of the adidas Jabulani. Not a fan at all.
In fact Johnston is so upset with the impact the Jabulani has had on World Cup 2010 that he’s written a 12 page open letter to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, filled with stats about how many mis-hit passes and off target shots the World Cup ball has caused and the collected quotes from numerous World Cup players about just how much they hate playing with this thing.
The letter is very direct, definitely heartfelt, and more than a little angry. It also includes the best opening paragraph of any letter I’ve ever read:
Dear Mr. Blatter
If a sponsor came into your office before the World Cup and said: ‘We are going to give you a new, perfectly round match ball, the players won’t like it at all, there will be more mistakes made than in any other World Cup, there will be less goals scored, less free-kicks scored, less passes complete, less control by players and roughly 70% of crosses and shots on goal will miss wide and go way over the crossbar. What would you say to them?
I am risking my reputation and goodwill within certain football circles by writing this open letter to yourself and anybody else who is interested in the Jabulani ball issue and why its endorsement by FIFA could ruin the game as we now know it.
Johnston goes on to suggest that maybe FIFA just switch back to an older adidas ball, but keep the graphic design of the Jabulani. I think we all know that’s not going to happen. But in a larger sense Johnston’s letter is a plea for FIFA to think more about what’s good for football and good for the tournament than about what’s good for sponsors like adidas. Even if the full 12 pages of Johnston’s letter aren’t enough to convince Blatter, I’m willing to bet that the significant bad publicity the Jabulani has received will at least make both Blatter and adidas a little more careful in future.
COMPLETE LETTER
www.docshare.com/doc/223643/CJ-Mr-Blatter-Letter-re-Jabulani-Ball-July-20
www.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/craig-johnstons-12-page-jabulani-letter-to-sepp-blatter.html