We've often wondered what the hell Adidas has hidden in the official World Cup ball.
Most (in)famously, the Jabulani sphere from the 2010 World Cup swerved so violently in midair that we weren't sure if there was some kind of wacky technology or rubber casing that made it so unpredictable. Well, at least the Al Rihla ball is a what-you-see match ball. Right?
Sort of. Ball expert Jon Paul is well known across the internet for making his own – and in deconstructing the brand new World Cup ball, he's stumbled upon one hell of a coincidence. This one is verging on conspiracy territory…
The Adidas Al Rihla World Cup ball is made up of Adidas logos
So Adidas might have changed their logo to a textless design recently – but our memories aren't that short.
Back in the day, the German brand sported a Trefoil crest on their football shirts. That was dropped for the Three Stripes logo but if you're into your clothes, you may have noticed the Trefoil still gets onto tracksuits, trainers and all sorts.
Well, as Jon Paul noticed in one video, look what happens when you cut three panels from the Al Rihla ball…
So even though Adi have altered their logo, it looks like you can still see the old one within the ball itself.
It's a classic outline and one that's pretty obvious when you see it. Consider too that the Trefoil logos are all converging around a triangle… which looks like the latest logo.
No word yet from Adidas as to whether this was deliberate. It seems a little too much of a coincidence, though, don't you think?
