Far Post: Sialkot, Pakistan - Where soccer gets made

"You can't see that," he says, in mildly apologetic tones. "It is where are working on the World Cup football." Omar Waraich has covered Pakistan as a
Far Post: Sialkot, Pakistan - Where soccer gets made
Far Post: Sialkot, Pakistan - Where soccer gets made /

si/dam/assets/140211120912-soccermade-3-single-image-cut.jpg
The UEFA Champions League soccer balls, like the one Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben dispatched by Borussia Dortmund in the final last year, are produced in the Forward Sports Factory in Sialkot, Pakistan.
The UEFA Champions League soccer balls, like the one Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben dispatched by Borussia Dortmund in the final last year, are produced in the Forward Sports Factory in Sialkot, Pakistan :: Matt Dunham/AP

"You can't see that," he says, in mildly apologetic tones. "It is where are working on the World Cup football."

A worker inflates soccer balls at a factory in Sialkot, Pakistan.
A worker inflates soccer balls at a factory in Sialkot, Pakistan :: Rahat Dar/EPA
Workers at a factory in Sialkot, Pakistan, pack soccer balls into sacks before they are dispatched for sale.
Workers at a factory in Sialkot, Pakistan, pack soccer balls into sacks before they are dispatched for sale :: Mian Khursheed/Reuters

Omar Waraich has covered Pakistan as a foreign correspondent since 2007. His work has appeared in TIME, The New Yorker, The Independent newspaper of London, and The Guardian.


Published