A new balloon called “Al Hilm” (the dream) and decorated with bordeaux nuances recalling the Qatari flag, will be used during the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, the International Federation (FIFA) announced this Sunday.
“Al Hilm will be the official ball of the semi-finals, the match for third place and the final” scheduled for December 18 at the Lusaïl stadium, FIFA wrote in a statement.
The first semi-final, scheduled for Tuesday opposes Argentina to Croatia, while the second, puts the French team on Wednesday to that of Morocco.
The new “Al Hilm” balloon is predominantly white with dark red patterns, while its predecessor “Al Rihla” (the journey) included blue and red zebraures raised from Doré.
Al Hilm wants to be “the first ball of the last square of a FIFA World Cup using exclusively inks and glues in the water”.
This new Ballon by the Adidas equipment supplier will also be equipped with “semi-automated technology of the offside” (saot), like its predecessor Al Rihla: a sensor placed in the center of the ball must send data 500 times per second, determining the moment when it is played much more precisely than a human eye could do.
FIFA introduced the use of this technology during this 2022 World Cup, intended to accelerate and reliable arbitral decisions.
The saot should make it possible to establish at any time the position of the players and the ball, facilitating the detection of offside without however replacing the appreciation of the referees.
On the sporting level, the trajectories of the Al Rihla balloon were considered acceptable by Claudio Taffarel, coach of the goalkeepers of Brazil: “It is not bad, but it is not 100%,” said the former goalkeeper of the Seleçao of the 1994 world at the end of November.
Al Rihla et al Hilm succeeded “Teltar 18”, the 2018 World Cup balloon in Russia and “Brazuca” (Brazil 2014) or “Jabulani” (South Africa 2010).
