..without exception

Football : Wages System

The Ingrate continues to discuss fitba and some lower league team called Selltick - or something like that. Of course, impossiblists really support The Boro - for that deferred world domination sensation.

Hoever, Der Spiegel brings us an interesting story about football production - to drag this blog back to materialism:

People flock to [Sialkot] from far and wide; 60 percent of the world's footballs are made here, by more than 200 producers. They sport names like "Laser," "Estrella International," "Ali Trading Company" and "Fox & Associates." Some are one-room setups equipped with a telephone and a few files. Others are headquartered in towers of glittering glass and concrete that would slot smoothly into European cityscapes. As a rule these companies ship their output overseas. They are integrated in the global economy, links in the international value chain. The owners are subcontractors for Nike, Adidas and other corporations marketing "lifestyle" products. Their earnings have transformed the region into Pakistan's El Dorado. People here make about $1,000 a year, nearly twice the national average.

I don't want to focus on the gruelling labour that make up other people's fun - instead on the simple phrase - 60% of the world's footballs are made in one city in Pakistan. Please contemplate the full meaning of that phrase.