Stable flight

Bounce

Durability

Lasting air retention

Do not wash.

Do not dry clean.

Do not iron.

Do not tumble dry.

Bleaching excluded.

The UEFA Board of Directors designated Kipsta, the Decathlon group’s football brand, as the new official supplier of the UEFA.
Kipsta premium soccer balls, designed in France, have been awarded the FIFA Quality Pro label and undergo quality tests at various stages of production.
With the official balls of the UEFA Europa & UEFA Conference Leagues, Kipsta wishes to demonstrate its know-how at the highest level of competition. 

Kipsta, supplier of the official UEFA Europa & Conference League ball

We’ve developed a tool for characterizing the durability of our balls.
We identify and evaluate all possible defects through a series of practical lab tests.
We use these tests to compare our soccer balls’ overall durability with that of others available on the market. Our aim is to offer the most durable products on the market. 

Prioritizing durability 

This ball, just like the whole of our range, is 100% designed in France, and has been rigorously tested by a combination of lab and field tests. So it meets the strictest standards and requirements, as well as complying with a whole range of additional tests, specifically developed by Decathlon.
In addition to normative tests, our Kipsta Certification Unit carries out additional tests that enable us to design and compare our products objectively. 

Designed in France

The Kipsta certification unit is made up of qualified field trial engineers, renowned for: establishing specific protocols and tests relating to how the products will be used.
Recruitment of qualified testers with a level suitable to evaluate our products’ functions.
Objective analysis of results, using statistical tools. 
These tests cover general aspects, such as durability, durable inflation, and functions that reflect the ball’s technical aspects. 

What is the Kipsta Certification Team? 

To design our balls, we have a dedicated team as well as a laboratory based in France. The Ball team in France is made up of product engineers, component engineers, and test engineers which means we are able to master the entire ball design process, from components to technical validation. 

The Kipstadium in Tourcoing, France 

At Decathlon, we’ve been testing our balls for over 15 years in order to validate our products during the design, industrialization, and post-production phases. A laboratory 100% dedicated to ball tests was even created in 2018 at the Kipstadium site in France. 
More than a dozen tests are carried out on our balls. First of all, there are the tests required by FIFA, as well as other additional tests created by the engineers within our laboratory. 

Our ball lab

With 40 years’ experience as a designer, Decathlon bases its product development on desirability and accessibility for all, consequently implying a notion of universality in their design (age, gender, and nationality). 
The group’s, and therefore Kipsta’s, aesthetic line is a balance between our convictions (simple, technical, and clever products) and our sober, universal, and modern artistic direction. 

Decathlon, the designer

The DNA worked into this ball (i.e., the formal basis on which a graphic design is juxtaposed) combines technicity and balance.
We perfected the ball’s visual effects and players’ spatial understanding of the ball in play to minimize visual discomfort. 

Design meets engineering 

This ball is an exclusive Kipsta design, and incorporates some of the same technical choices as our Official Match Ball.
What you should know:  
- It features thermobonded technology: a seamless ball.
- It’s made up of 12 panels with an exclusive shape. 

The story behind this ball

This ball complies with official FIFA standards and weighs between 410 g and 450 g (size 5).
FIFA Basic-approved.

Too light? Too heavy? The weight is standardized.

This ball measures 68–70 cm and complies with official FIFA standards.
FIFA Basic-approved.

What’s the circumference? 

Here’s how we test sphericity:
Average measured variation: 1.8% max (FIFA Basic standard).
We measure the ball’s sphericity at 4,500 different points and then examine any differences. 
If the discrepancy is greater than 1.8% (FIFA Basic standard), our engineers work on improving the sphericity to ensure a consistent bounce. 

A round ball? 

Here’s how we test pressure loss: 
We inflate the ball to the recommended pressure (11.6 psi).
The ball cannot lose more than 15% of its pressure over 72 hours, meaning a maximum pressure loss of 1.5 psi (FIFA Basic standard). The pressure after 72 hours must be approximately 10.1 psi.
This also means that it’s quite normal for a ball to lose pressure after a few days.

Maximum pressure loss test: here’s what we do.

Here’s how we test water absorption:
To simulate rainy playing conditions in a lab, we put the ball in 2 cm of water on a pivoting support and subject it to 250 compressions.
At the end of testing, the ball must have absorbed no more than 10% of its weight (FIFA Basic certification).

We’ve also tested how much water the ball absorbs

Here’s the bounce test: 
The ball is dropped onto a steel plate 10 times from a height of 2 m.
 The bounce height must be between 125 cm and 155 cm, with a maximum difference of 10 cm between its highest and lowest bounce.

It’s all about the bounce

The most rigorous test we put this ball through is the shooting machine test.
The ball must resist 2,500 shots against a concrete slope at 50 km/h at a distance of 2.5 m.
At the end of the test, we check: 
- The ball’s general condition:  Stitching must remain intact 
- Circumference: Must not have varied by more than 1.5 cm.
- Sphericity: Must not have varied by more than 1.8%
Pressure: Pressure loss must not exceed 12.5%

Built to take a beating

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Replica Soccer Ball, UEFA Conference League 25/26 Size 5