SPORTS

Rediff.com » Sports

World Cup goals: Scored in Russia, made in Poland
May 22, 2018

IMAGE:  Workers hold a goal at Interplastic, a Polish manufacturing company who are supplying the football goalposts for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia, in Chwaszczyno, Poland. Photographs: Kacper Pempel/Reuters

It takes artistry to win the World Cup -- and to make the goals that the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will be aiming at next month.

So says Jan Zoltowski whose small family-owned Interplastic firm, based near Gdansk on Poland's Baltic coast, is producing the aluminium goalposts and crossbars for the month-long tournament in Russia.

More than 100 employees manually manufacture or process most of more than 190 elements that go into the goal, and managing director Zoltowski says each one demands the precision of an artist.

"For most, the goal is simply two goalposts and the crossbar. For us, it's our life," he told Reuters.

Most of the components are made of aluminium profiles, with each pipe cut, ground, welded and drilled.

The last stage is powder painting. Steel fittings are bent, milled and galvanised. Plastic net hooks are also manufactured in-house. Only the nets come from a Spanish partner.

Source: REUTERS
© Copyright 2024 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
© 2024 Rediff.com