Get the latest news and updates from Dawn
UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan’s role in global football was highlighted at the United Nations on Wednesday as the country’s permanent envoy, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, presented a Pakistan-manufactured Adidas ‘Trionado’ football to the President of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, at a special event held ahead of World Football Day and the FIFA World Cup.
The ceremony at UN headquarters in New York underscored Pakistan’s long-standing position in the global sports goods industry, particularly its association with football production centred in Sialkot, which has been a major hub of hand-stitched football manufacturing since the mid-20th century.
Pakistan’s emergence as a key supplier of footballs to international markets began in the 1950s and expanded significantly from the 1970s onward, when small and medium-sized workshops in Sialkot developed into a globally competitive export cluster.
By the 1990s, the city had become closely integrated into international sports supply chains, including contracts with leading global brands.
