the 1980s the first version was developed by a company consisting, amongst others, of Sir Bobby Charlton and FA referee, Neil Midgely. The English FA rejected the idea, failing even to attend field trials. Approaches to Adidas's English office to develop the product were rejected. In 2000, Brazilian inventor Heine Allemagne developed a similar product by the name "Spuni".
Its first use in a professional level was in the 2000 Brazilian Championship, Copa João Havelange.[3] Referees unanimously approved its use and the spray was since adopted in Brazilian competitions. "Spuni" has been patented by its inventor since October 29, 2002.[4] Since then, the spray has been used in many international football competitions. In June 2014 the spray's latest commercial version, "9-15", made its debut in the FIFA 2014 World Cup.[5] "9-15" was developed by Argentinian entrepreneur Pablo Silva and its commercial production started in 2008.[6]
The 2011 Copa América tournament was the first tournament for national teams to use the spray.[7] Its success caused it to be adopted by several national leagues
in 2011 in the Americas, including the North American MLS association. [8] It has also been used in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey, the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Malta and Gozo, and the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The first World Cup match to feature the vanishing spray was the opening game of the 2014 FIFA World Cup between Brazil and Croatia on 12 June, used by referee Yuichi Nishimura.[9][10] The foam is now authorised for use in top flight football in Italy, Spain and the English premier league.[11]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanishing_foam#History11 years after and you think you pioneered it?
This post was edited by jshade on Jul 31 2014 11:34am