When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn When the Euro 2024 soccer tournament kicks off in Germany, it’s worth taking a moment to notice the ball being used in all the matches.
The Fussballliebe – which means “love of football” – incorporates cutting edge technology designed to help players, coaches, and officials to deliver a compelling game to watch.
Let’s look in more detail at the work that has gone into creating the Euro 2024 ball, and the positive impact it is destined to have on one of the world’s biggest soccer events.
Design
The European Championship is held every four years – and a new ball is designed for every edition of this famous tournament.
For the Euro 2024 ball, organizers turned once again to adidas, the German sports goods firm that is a household name across the world, to create a ball that respects the history of the event while embracing the very latest technology.
The result is an adidas soccer ball called the Fussballliebe. Every memorable moment that is created during 51 matches in stadiums across Germany will have at its heart the adidas ball designed specifically for this tournament.
Designers at the adidas headquarters in Herzogenaurach worked long hours to devise a Euros football that would enable some of the world’s leading players to showcase their skills at Euro 2024.
The design of the Euros soccer ball is displayed across 20 panels on the polyurethane skin of the ball, also known as a precision outer shell.
You’ll find the colors of the German flag – black, red, and yellow – as well as a representation of each stadium hosting matches, accompanied by the name of the city where it’s situated.
The Euro 2024 ball has been subjected to extensive testing and scrutiny. It has to be strong enough to withstand 90 minutes of high-speed action at the feet of the world’s top soccer players, and to keep its shape and elasticity.
Each ball is hand-made, a process that takes about three hours per Euro ball. The Euro 2024 ball must be between 68-70cm in circumference, and weigh between 410-450g at kick-off.
That tells you everything you need to know about the exterior design of the adidas ball that will be used at Euro 2024. What’s so special about the internal workings of the Euro 2024 ball?
Euro 2024 Ball Technology
The Euro 2024 ball is expected to deliver the highest standard of performance for the players who use it to try to win soccer matches. But it will also incorporate the very latest digital technology to assist the individuals officiating the high-speed action.
At the core of each adidas soccer ball used in the tournament is an integrated lightweight sensor. Weighing just 14 grams, this tiny device sends out location data 400 times per second, which is picked up by a network of antennae, also known as anchors, around the pitch.
Data generated by this connected ball technology can be used by the referee and his assistants in arriving at the decisions that can make a huge difference to the destiny of any soccer match.
Offside Decisions
One of the most difficult challenges for any set of officials at a soccer match is judging offside decisions correctly. The Euros soccer ball is designed to help the referee and his assistants to get those calls right as quickly as possible.
Data produced by the sensor in the Euro 2024 ball will be used in conjunction with the semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) in place at every stadium.
The SAOT uses 10 specialized cameras that track 29 body points on each player.
Together with data from the Euro ball, officials will be able to identify exactly the point of ball contact, and the players’ positions, in any situation where an offside decision needs to be made – quickly and accurately.
Handball Decisions
Another area in which the Fussballliebe should be able to help officials is in making better and quicker calls when it comes to handball.
The sensor inside the ball will be able to detect immediately if contact has been made by a player, however slight. Officials observing the action will then be able to use pictures from the many cameras trained on the pitch to see if a handball offense has taken place.
As well as promising to make these decisions more reliable, the technology in the Euro 2024 ball should also ensure the video assistant referee (VAR) reaches a verdict much more quickly than is the case in some European leagues.
Player Stats
Many soccer fans love statistics. They can spend hours poring over the story told by the numbers collected from any game.
Coaches also rely on stats as well to tell them how well their players are performing, and what to expect from future opponents.
The connected ball technology at the heart of the Euros soccer ball will help those analyzing every game to collect reliable stats. These will include each team’s possession percentage in any game, goalkeeper saves, shots on and off target, offside decisions, and total passes made.
You can get a look at the current Euro 2024 betting odds and the best Euro 2024 betting sites to check out before June 14th rolls around.
Sustainable Materials
The adidas ball created for Euro 2024 uses a host of sustainable materials, in keeping with the company’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact and promoting sustainability.
At the heart of the Euro 2024 ball are materials including corn fibers, sugar cane, wood pulp, and recycled polyester. The Fussballliebe also uses water-based ink for the exterior designs that decorate its synthetic leather panels.
Along with the cutting-edge technology that is built into the Euros football, the sustainable materials it incorporates ensure that this is a creation very much in tune with its era.
How Does It Work?
The Fussballliebe, the ball that will be used for the European Championship finals in Germany, has been created using the very latest design technology and materials.
But surely the most interesting technical aspect of the Euro 2024 ball is the lightweight sensor at the heart of each one.
This 14-gram addition to the Euro ball should make a significant difference to the quality, accuracy, and speed of the decision-making by officials at the tournament.
By transmitting location data 400 times every second to a network of antennae around the pitch, the Fussballliebe should play a key role in offside and handball decisions.
If European soccer fans spend the summer talking about the high quality of the action, rather than the poor quality of the decisions, the work done by the adidas ball designers will have been a success.
Check our how to bet on soccer page for guidance in making well-informed wagers at offshore sportsbooks leading up to Euro 2024.
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