Jabulani - meaning 'to Celebrate' in the isiZulu language - is the name of the new ball for the FIFA World Cup 2010™.
Made, as ever, by Adidas - the world's leading Football equipment manufacturer, the Jabulani ball builds on their years of scientific excellence. With their history of official FIFA World Cup balls (from Telstar to Teamgeist™) the balls have improved year on year, though not without attracting some controversy along the way.
Regular balls are made with 32 hexagonal panels. The Teamgeist for World Cup in Germany 2006 had only 14 panels. The Jabilani ball has an amazing 8 panels.
Goalies will be happy with the 'grip n groove' texturing, which is also to aid smooth flight (think golfballs).
It is a heavy ball, and has bonded 3d panels - moulded spherically to retain shape and create a seamless spehere.
The number 11 carries heavy symbolism - the tribes of South Africa, the players in a football team. In honour of this, there are 11 colours used on the ball.
