42:05 Snickers World’s Longest Football Match success!
Monday, June 7th, 2010UPDATE 2010-10-20: Video highlights added below…
With Snickers’ support, DUPLAYS organized 36 footballers to play 1 match for 42 hours and 5 minutes in Doha, Qatar from May 28-30.
An official from Guinness World Records certified the event as the longest football match ever played! After 2 months of preparation the nearly 2 days of football went surprisingly smoothly with only a few players having minor injuries. Players slept and ate on the sidelines of the pitch, keeping a rotation that balanced playing time with rest/sleep. The final score of the match was 293-236 — “Crunchers” (green) over the “Challengers” (orange).
City 7 TV and Sport on 7 host Graham Clews filed this video report from the match:
For more photos from the game you can visit the official Snickers website makefootballhistory.com and the Snickers WLFM facebook group.
Check out the official press release below…
Mars GCC – the leading regional manufacturer of confectionary products in the Middle East and its famous brand Snickers ® proudly announces it has stepped up to the challenge and broken the current Guinness world record for the longest football match by bringing together 36 real football fans from 10 different Arab markets to play a historical match that lasted for 42 hours and 5 minutes in Qatar. The match kicked off on Friday 28th at 8 am and ended at 2.05 am on Sunday.
Throughout the years, Snickers ® has been always associated with football. One of Snickers’ ® main aim by organizing the event is to challenge and unleash the football potential and create a tremendous amount of excitement among Arab youth in the region.
Commenting on the event was Omar Salim, Marketing Director, Mars GCC: “Snickers ® is proud to have achieved its goal in breaking the record for the world’s longest football thanks to the determination of the selected team. This accomplishment reflects the players’ high level of excitement about the game and the sense of closeness among Arab youth. Snickers ® succeeded in bringing Arab youth together to step-up to the challenge “Tahadi” and be more active while having fun and learning from others. Breaking the record by those youth echo a sense of responsibility and passion for the sport.”
This record-breaking attempt is done under the umbrella of the Snickers brand which stands for: “Don’t stop” and “Step-up”.
Mohammed Badri from KSA, one of the on-line winners of the Snickers “Make football history campaign” commented: “This has been one of the most exciting experiences of my life. I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to participate to such an enriching and unique adventure and to have bonded with mates from across the region that share the same passion for football as I do. The strong spirit of achievement we shared throughout the whole event has contributed to create very special friendships which we know will last forever.”
The game followed standard FIFA rules for a friendly match, with teams limited to 11 players on the pitch and 7 substitutes each. There was a set up for sleeping and resting and food/beverages.
There were a total of 36 players who participated in breaking the world record. Ten players were selected from users who played the online football game. The other 26 players were recruited among football fans who stepped up to the challenge.
A studied rotation was put in place to make sure no players run the risk of extreme over-exhaustion. A team of experienced sports organizers were in charge of setting schedules and managing players and their substitutions to make sure every player received adequate rest and care during the whole game.
The event was supported by City 7 TV as the exclusive media partner of the event.
