“IT boasts several key performance innovations. The four-panel construction creates a surface that provides optimal in-flight stability by ensuring sufficient, evenly distributed drag as it travels through the air. Additionally, embossed icons elevate grip in variable conditions. Connected technology is enhanced by a state-of-the-art 500Hz motion sensor chip that delivers insight into every element of its movement. This technology sends precise data in real time, enhancing decision-making…” Our security-obsessed minds could be forgiven for perceiving this lightly abridged excerpt as describing some weapons system. It is not.
The title of this piece is a deliberate play on ‘tax net’ that most non-salaried segments of the economy continue to slip through successfully. The same old four million or so individuals and entities already in the income tax net get squeezed more and more every year, while the rulers and their backers in the IFIs continue to chant the mantra of widening the tax base. One of the biggest national spectacles, the federal and provincial budgets that follow, is scheduled to unfold soon after one false start.
A much bigger, international spectacle that happens only every four years is set to make not one or two but ‘three waves’ shortly. We don’t have the proverbial ‘skin in the game,’ but what we do have are made of synthetic skin. The FIFA World Cup26 is set to start on Friday, June 12, and the official ball is made in Pakistan. The much-celebrated ball, Tango, first introduced at the 1978 World Cup, had its production moved to Pakistan in 1982; it ruled the field for two decades. This time, it is called Trionda, Spanish for ‘three waves’, a reference to the three hosting nations, another first in the tournament’s history.
The ball is made in Sialkot, and the silence about it is not just deafening; it’s also heart-breaking. The Iranians are playing in the tournament, part of which is being held in the US. We should be celebrating our ball and the sports goods industry in Sialkot at least as much as we have highlighted our role in the US-Iran peace talks. Alas! We remain fixated on cricket and cricketers ‘performing’ Haj.
Why should we lament FIFA’s disregard?
The Aussies were recently here to play a T20 and ODI series. The same old traffic alerts, the same old warnings, the thoroughfares closed to transport the visiting team from airport to hotel, to stadiums for practice, then back to hotel and to the airport for travel to other venues — meaning more road closures and millions of commuters suffering because we insist on staging tournaments whose logistics we can’t manage without making citizens’ lives miserable.
However, there are no billboards showcasing Trionda, no banners trumpeting Pakistan’s prowess in sports equipment manufacturing and export, no testimonials from the craftsmen and women behind these balls, and no interviews with international footballers sharing their excitement and experiences with the new ball.
Let’s set aside the governments and sporting associations for a moment; what about the Sialkot business community, especially the company manufacturing the ball on behalf of a global sportswear giant? It is their moment to bask in glory, albeit reflected, and it comes only twice in a decade or so. Why are the city’s chambers of commerce and industry and their national counterparts found snoozing? Or are they, as usual, preoccupied with the tax breaks they could get in the upcoming budget?
The FIFA website is also a disappointment. While it waxes lyrical about the ball depicting the colours of Mexico, the US and Canada, the hosting nations, and goes into the details of the ball’s seams and chunnatein (crimps), it does not say a word about where the Trionda is made. Why should we lament FIFA’s disregard when nothing stops us from kicking the ball on promotion? One must be cautious about own goals like the flick Mera Lyari, though.
The FIFA site asserts: “Iconography that represents each host country adorns the ball, with the maple leaf for Canada, an eagle for Mexico and a star for the United States, while gold embellishments pay tribute to the FIFA World Cup Trophy, underlining the significance of the stage provided by FIFA’s flagship tournament.” While the other colours on the ball may represent the hosting nations, as for ‘gold’, we all know how obsessed the current occupant of the White House is with the yellow metal and, in turn, how obsequious FIFA has been lately. Last December 2025, the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize was awarded to Donald Trump to help him get over his Nobel Prize sulk.
The World Cup ball has a chip inside that senses every time it is kicked; the national budget package is also likely to have a kick to it, and the pain is being felt in advance.
The writer is a poet. His latest publication is a collection of satire essays titled Rindana.
Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2026
