London: Sports goods manufacturer Adidas has defended the design of the its new ball Jabulani which is being used in the on-going Fifa World Cup in South Africa.
Adidas claims that the design of the ball is perfectly fine and that altitude is the main factor affecting the World Cup ball.
Slovenia's Robert Koren admitted that his winning goal against Algeria was helped by the Jabulani ball, which he said was "really difficult to control", according to BBC reports.
However Adidas spokesman Thomas Schaikvan quoted to the Telegraph, as saying that complaining countries like England only had themselves to blame as they had not practiced enough with it.
Schaikvan said the Jabulani ball had been used extensively in Germany's Bundesliga as well as by France and Argentina who are sponsored by Adidas and other leagues such as Austria, Switzerland, Portugal and United States.
The ball was also tested by Chelsea, Real Madrid and AC Milan and said that there were no complaints then whatsoever. He said that they had supplied all the federations with the ball.
The use of the Jabulani is clearly tied to sponsorship deals so the Premier League is prevented from using it because it has its own contract with Nike.
Oneindia News