The match ball for the 2007 FIFA Woman's World Cup in China was officially unveiled on the Women's Football Day on Thursday at the Adidas World of Footbal in Berlin.

Adidas Brand President and CEO Erich Stamminger and FIFA President Joseph Blatter handed over the new match ball to the General Secretary of the Organizing Committee Nan Yong and Chinese football star and FIFA Ambassador Sun Wen.

After accepting the match ball, which will be available in retail from 2007 onwards, Sun kicked it up in front of the reporters.

Speaking at the ceremony, Blatter said woman football has played an increasingly big role in the societies of different cultures.

"Woman football means more than kicking a ball around," he said, stressing that it has been conducive to promoting woman's position, especially in the countries where woman's rights are not respected enough.

The match ball for the FIFA Women's World Cup feature the same performance characteristics as the Adidas Teamgeist, the match ball of the FIFA World Cup 2006.

The revolutionary 14-panel ball construction brings down the number of three-panel touch points by 60 percent (from 60 to 24) and the total length of the panel lines is reduced by over 15 percent (from 400.05 cm to 333.93 cm).

The design of the ball is inspired by the event logo and the traditional Chinese colors red and blue.

(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2006)