Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Sporting goods |
Founded | 1991 |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Khawaja Masood Akhtar, CEO [1] |
Products | Soccer balls |
Revenue | US$51 million [2] (2021 – 2022) |
Website | forward |
Forward Sports is a Pakistani multi-national company based in Sialkot, Punjab that makes sports equipment, primarily soccer balls. It produces 750,000 balls per month for global brands including Adidas. It was founded in 1991 by Khawaja Masood Akhtar. It started working with Adidas in 1994 and since then it has produced balls for many international events including UEFA Champions League on several occasions. It was the official provider of balls for the 2014 FIFA World Cup (the Brazuca), the 2018 FIFA World Cup (the Telstar 18) [3] [4] and the 2022 FIFA World Cup (the Al Rihla). [2]
It produces soccer balls, handballs, sala balls, beach balls, indoor balls, sports bags, shin guards, goalkeeping gloves and medicine balls. It is the largest football producer in Pakistan, employing 3,000 people including 900 women. [5] [6]
The company has come into prominence for landing the contract of over 3,000 "Brazuca" balls that were used at the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Bloomberg and BBC are among many news agencies that have covered the company. Khawaja Masud Akhtar received the Sitara-i-Imtiaz on 23 March 2019.
The Forward Sports has an affiliated company based in Egypt, the Forward Egypt which manufactured a portion of the Adidas Al Rihla. [7]
Adidas AG is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the world, after Nike. It is the holding company for the Adidas Group, which also owns an 8.33% stake of the football club Bayern München, and Runtastic, an Austrian fitness technology company. Adidas's revenue for 2018 was listed at €21.915 billion.
Sialkot is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and is the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu in the north east, the districts of Narowal in the southeast, Gujranwala in the southwest and Gujrat in the northwest.
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The Atlanta Agreement is an agreement which was formed between the International Labour Organization, the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry and UNICEF on February 14, 1997. It was announced at the Sports Super Show in Atlanta, United States. Its goal was to combat high rates of child labour in the Pakistani football making industry.
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Nivia Sports, initially known as Freewill Sports Pvt Ltd, is a distinguished Indian corporate entity specializing in the manufacturing of sports equipment. Founded in 1934 in Sialkot, the company has undergone significant transformations, ultimately establishing its headquarters in Jalandhar, Punjab, India. Nivia Sports is renowned for its expertise in designing and producing a wide array of sports equipment, accessories, and sportswear, encompassing athletic apparel and footwear..
The Adidas Telstar 18 was the official match ball of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which was held in the Russian Federation. It was designed by the company Adidas, a FIFA Partner and FIFA World Cup official match ball supplier since 1970, and based on the concept of the first Adidas's World Cup match ball. The manufacturer of the ball was Forward Sports, a sports equipment supplier based in Sialkot, Pakistan.
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