United States president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin took part in a historic meet in Helsinki, Finland, a few days ago, when Putin was seen gifting a football to Trump. The US president seemed quite thrilled to receive the gift and said: "That's very nice. That will go to my son Barron."
However, many were quick to warn Trump that the ball could be bugged and that he should probably think before he takes it to the White House. And it is now being said that the ball indeed is not an ordinary one and comes with a chip in it.
However, the US has nothing to worry about as the ball isn't a Russian spy device and the chip in the Adidas AG ball is, in fact, an advertised feature.
Describing the ball on its site, Adidas says that the chip works only with a device that has "Near Field Communication" enabled. "The chip is placed inside the Telstar 18. There is an NFC logo printed where the chip is placed," the site says.
While the football is clearly harmless and was just a gift from Putin, many have raised concerns that the chip could have been overwritten and bugged. However, Adidas' answer on the coding of the chip should be good enough to allay these fears. "It is not possible to delete or rewrite the encoded parameters," Adidas says.
Meanwhile, the White House too has said that all security measures were looked into when it came to accepting the ball and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Bloomberg: "The security screening process that is done for all gifts was done for the soccer ball. We are not going to comment further on security procedures."
The White House also hasn't spoken about if Barron would actually be able to keep the ball as the law prohibits the US president and his family from keeping any gifts presented by the governments of foreign nations unless they are lesser than a stipulated value.
The ball, which was earlier being sold on Adidas' site for $165, is now available for $83.
So what does the chip do?
The user will reportedly have to hold the ball close to their mobile devices, and using the chip they can reportedly watch player videos, take part in competitions and get their hands on several other kinds of content.
Perfect gift for Barron
Meanwhile, if Barron, Trump's youngest son, does get to keep the ball, it would make a perfect gift for him as the 12-year-old is known to be a football fan. During the White House's Easter Egg Roll celebrations in 2017, Barron was spotted playing football in a full Arsenal kit.
Barron Trump kicking the ball around at @WhiteHouse #EasterEggRoll pic.twitter.com/HZNtjsGVFE
— Dana McKay (@danasdirt) April 17, 2017
About two months later, Barron was once against spotted in Arsenal colours when the Trump family visited Camp David, the presidential country retreat.
