Pakıstan Feature Package Soccer Ball Industry

epa02192624 Children of soccer ball stitchers take classes at an education center funded by Anwar Khawaja Industries that manufacture soccer balls , in Sialkot , Pakistan , 08 June 2010 . The soccer ball industry of Pakistan , principally concentrated in the city of Sialkot , has been under scrutiny in recent years for employing child workers . The Sialkot Chamber of CommerceIndustry has taken major steps towards elimination of child laborthe results have been encouraging . Soccer balls are made entirely by hand in Sialkot . They generally consist of a number of synthetic leather panels stitched together in geometric patterns on the outside with an inflatable bladder inside . Hand-stitching these panels together is a very labor-intensive process . Balls that don ' t pass the final quality control are taken apartstitched together again . The factories of Sialkot supply 40 million footballs a year , that number rises to 60 million in European Championship or World Cup years . That ' s an estimated 70 percent of the global production of hand-sewed footballs .  EPA/RAHAT DAR