Pakıstan Feature Package Soccer Ball Industry

epa02192615 Workers with Anwar Khawaja Industries clean soccer balls at a soccer ball factory in Sialkot, Pakistan, 08 June 2010. The soccer ball industry of Pakistan, principally concentrated in the city of Sialkot, has been under scrutiny in recent years for employing child workers. The Sialkot Chamber of CommerceIndustry has taken major steps towards elimination of child laborthe results have been encouraging. Soccer balls are made entirely by hand in Sialkot. They generally consist of a number of synthetic leather panels stitched together in geometric patterns on the outside with an inflatable bladder inside. Hand-stitching these panels together is a very labor-intensive process. Balls that don't pass the final quality control are taken apartstitched together again. The factories of Sialkot supply 40 million footballs a year,that number rises to 60 million in European Championship or World Cup years. That's an estimated 70 percent of the global production of hand-sewed footballs.  EPA/RAHAT DAR