Giant Football Sets New World Record for South Africa

July 14 -  Resting on the Chariots Fountain at the Emperors Palace Casino is the football that has set a new Guinness World Record.

The football, owned by Emperors Palace and Kia Motors, is a replica of an Adidas Telstar ball. This ball, however, is more than 15 meters high and weighs 650kg, making it almost 70 times larger and 1,500 times heavier than the official Jubulani World Cup football.

The director of television and adjudicator of the Guinness World Records, Robert Molloy, made the announced at the Emperors Palace on Monday 5 July.

Emperors Palace and Kia Mothers announced that in the lead up to the final of the World Cup Soccer in South Africa, they had wanted to do something that would put Kia and South Africa on the world map.

They decided that the massive football would hold enough 'wow' factor to do so. The verdict of the Guinness World Records says that they succeeded.

The Guinness World Records requires that the ball confirm to the precise specifications in order to enter. In a nutshell, the ball had to be able to do all of the things that a regular soccer ball can do. These include: it had to be inflatable and deflatable, it had to be able to be kicked and roll and it had to be an accurate copy of the official FIFA World Cup ball.

Innermation South Africa, a specialist marketing company, was hired to run the Kia and Emperors Palace football project. Stefan Vermaak from Innermation South Africa stated: "Fortunately, though Guinness gave us some leniency when it came to materials, the companies did not have to manufacture the ball out of shoe laces and leather panels. They were allowed to use PVC instead."

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