The Sialkot Football Sector

INTRODUCTION

The production of sports goods in Sialkot dates back to time when Subcontinent was under British Rule. The Sports Goods industry of Sialkot produces a variety of sports goods ranging from cricket bats, cricket balls, hockey sticks, footballs and even sports uniform and garments and other equipment. The entire sports industry of Pakistan exported a total of US$ 10 million of sporting goods in 2013 (Atkin et al. 3).

In the Sports Goods industry, the football production is a sector of the industry the origin of which dates back to the 19th century when the local leather workers catered to the demand of British in the Subcontinent.  As the history is narrated by the producers of football in Sialkot, at the time of partition the specialized labor force was left in Sialkot whereas a majority of the owners of the football factories migrated to Jalandar, India. As the workers with the skill set were left behind with their mature learning curve and skill set, it contributed significantly to the quality aspect of the footballs produced in Pakistan.

CURRENT STATE OF THE SECTOR

The Sialkot football sector is the hub of production of football in Pakistan. The sector specializes in the production of high quality match balls, medium quality training balls and low quality promotional balls. These balls are made with the football brands logo. The large scale firms are involved in the production for top quality brands such as Nike and Adidas. Whereas small and medium scale producers concentrate their production towards promotional balls for the same large football brands or even online markets. Once contributing to 71% of the World’s football production in 1996, the market share of the football sector of Pakistan has dropped to 17% in 2012 (Atkin et al. 7). However, this industry has faced immense competition from the emerging football producing markets like China & India. China dominates the production of low quality and low cost machine stitched balls which led to an increase in China’s market share from 19% in 1996 to 71% in 2012 (Atkin et al. 7). Along with this, China was also able to innovate the production of thermally-molded balls which were primarily used in the FIFA World Cup 2014. Despite all the emerging competition, Pakistan Football sector remains the market leader in hand stitched balls due to the expertise of labor.

Currently, the Football sector of Pakistan produces approximately 40 million footballs annually which are worth more than $210 million, including hand stitched, machine stitched and thermally molded. However, during the World Cup Years the annual production increases to 60 million footballs due to the increase in demand. In 2015, total football production contributed to $1.6 billion in exports. The football industry employs approximately 200,000 skilled and unskilled workers with a per capita income of $2,800, currently the highest in the country (Ghani, “The story of a Football”).

MAJOR PLAYERS

In the football production sector of Sialkot around 390 registered firms produce footballs. This includes producers of the high end professional football used in international matches, football designed for different clubs and league level matches and promotional or practice balls. The source of production for the football manufacturers are more than 2700 registered stitching units employing more than 100,000 people. Key actors in the supply chain of footballs include: producers, subcontractors, stitichers and exporters.