The launch of the brand’s ninth consecutive confection is the FIFA Women’s World Championship
adidas has presented the Oceaunz, the official match ball for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be played in Australia and New Zealand 2023. The launch is the ninth consecutive 3-Stripes brand launch for the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Designed to handle the dynamics and speed of the modern game, the ball’s design delivers details in shades of blue and green, inspired by the Australian landscape, with visuals reminiscent of the mountains of New Zealand and Australia’s connection to the Indian Ocean. . The Australian patterns were created by renowned local artist, Chern’ee Sutton, while the markings representing New Zealand were designed by Kiwi artist, Fiona Collis.
On a predominantly white base, the ball bears cultural marks and the initials of both host nations, which are preparing to host the biggest competition in women’s football between the 20th of July and the 20th of August. Oceaunz is also decorated with designs representing different elements of the sport, such as soccer balls and goals.
With audience records during the Women’s Euro last year, there is no doubt that this tournament has what it takes to be an anthological moment. We are throwing a ball that fills us with pride, with a design that represents the natural beauty of the landscape where it will be played. The game is always evolving and Oceaunz’s design was developed to help players deal with the pace and demands of the modern game,” said Franziska Loeffelmann, Design Director for Football at adidas.
Like the official match ball for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Oceaunz features connected ball technology, providing accurate ball data that is made available to the VAR team in real time. Combined with player positioning data and using artificial intelligence, the technology contributes to FIFA’s semi-automated offside and provides instant information to the VAR to help optimize the decision-making process.
Following in the footsteps of Al Rihla and Al Hilm, adidas continues its commitment to have 1% of net sales of Oceaunz balls reverted to Common Goal’s “Global Goal 5 Accelerator”, a collective project to increase participation, representation and leadership women in grassroots games.
The program focuses on increasing the presence of young women, coaches and female football leaders in quality community programs, helping to ensure that each participating girl has a female athlete as a role model in her community.
