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The largest football jersey exploit, was part of Guinness’ Fly with the Eagles campaign in support of reigning African champions- the Super Eagles as they took on the rest of the continent at the just concluded AFCON 2013 tournament in South Africa.
The largest jersey was unveiled at the Teslim Balogun Stadium Surulere Lagos and the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt in a bid to galvanize the support of millions of fans for the Super Eagles in their quest for victory at the city of Madiba.
Aerial view of world’s largest jersey The jersey which measures an amazing record size of 241ft 3in in width and 294ft 2in in length to set a new world record as the largest football jersey in history , beating the last record held at a size of 234ft 1 in by 259ft 8in. created and displayed in Sukru, San Istanbul Turkey in 2009.
According to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Seni Adetu, it is a case for double joy for the nation.
“We are elated as a company to have greatly contributed to these successes, putting Nigeria on the world map once again with this feat. Initially, there were doubts as to whether we had broken the world record when we started out.
However, today, I am proud to present to you the Guinness World Record Certificate for the largest football shirt in the world proving that we actually did break the world record” Adetu announced.
While the jersey was laid out during the AFCON tournament, over 40,000 fans inscribed their goodwill messages, wishing the Super Eagles victory at every stage of the tournament and Adetu believes it was a great motivating factor for the team.
“As the Super Eagles played at the tournament in South Africa, they were spurred on by the goodwill messages inscribed on the largest jersey by thousands of fans back home in Nigeria. It also raised the teams’ morale and they realised they are made of more with the support of their fans back home.
Here we are after 19 years of exploit, the Super Eagles are once again, African champions” Adetu enthused.
The Marketing and Innovation Director, Guinness Nigeria Plc, Mr. Austin Ufomba in his remark appreciated the support of the government for this achievement. “We sincerely appreciate the support of the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) and the River State Governor Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi for giving their approvals to lay the jersey on their respective stadia.It was indeed an honour bestowed on not just Guinness but the over 160 million fans of football that stood by the Eagles throughout the tournament” Ufomba said.
On the authenticity of the claim, Ufomba said everything was done to meet the requirement for the Guinness Book of World Record. “The jersey was measured by the quantity surveying firm, Billings Cost Associates and vetted by renowned audit firm, Alexander Forbes. So, there was no issue on the claims” Ufomba assured.
The Marketing Manager, Guinness, Mr. Obinna Anyalebechi while commenting on the whole campaign said: “we know Nigerians share a common passion for the Super Eagles and we believed in that passion. We embarked on this journey with full confidence that we will make a difference and today we stand here justifiably vindicated. Nigeria called, the team answered, the fans supported, and together we made history”.
For the last five years, Guinness Foreign Extra Stout has been the number one supporter of the Super Eagles.
