Biggest football on the planet breaks world record in South Africa

Giant ball biggest of them all...

Biggest ball in pic

Standing at an impressive 15m high the Emperors Palace and Kia ball was presented to the public on Monday amidst entertainment and Mr. Robert Molloy, adjudicator and Director of Television Guinness World Records, confirmed it as the world’s biggest football.

Emperors Palace, together with the rest of South Africa, have been celebrating the football throughout June, and in the build up to the culmination of the event, the resort wanted to do something that had a ‘wow’ factor that would put South Africa and Kia Motors on the world map.

In comparison to the official Adidas Jabulani ball being used in the 2010 tournament, the Emperors Palace and Kia ball is no small matter. Based on the Telstar ball of the 1970 FIFA World Cup, it is almost 70 times the size and 1,500 times heavier than the Jabulani ball.

To enter the Guinness World Records the ball needed to conform to certain specifications: it must be inflatable and deflatable, be able to roll and be kicked, and must be an exact replica of an official FIFA match ball. In other words, it has to do all the things that a regular soccer ball can do.

"Fortunately Guinness gave some leniency when it came to the materials - we did not have to manufacture the ball out of shoe laces and leather panels but were allowed to use PVC instead," said Stefan Vermaak of Innermation SA, the specialist marketing company commissioned to run the Emperors Palace and Kia big ball project.

"This ball is a real replica that, despite its size, moves and looks like an Adidas Telstar ball," he added.

The colossal ball that rests on the enormous Chariots Fountain next to the D’oreale Grande Hotel has already become a draw card for Emperors Palace, where the display forms part of the entertainment complex FIFA World Cup viewing zone.