Qatar is set to attempt a Guinness World Record for the world’s largest football boot, which will be unveiled on November 14 at Katara Cultural Village.
The project is organised by an international non-profit youth organisation, focus international, in collaboration with the Katara Public Diplomacy.
Speaking to The Peninsula, focus international CEO Shameer Valiyaveetil said that the football boot was made by people based in Kerala, a southern state in India.
“The boot has arrived at the Doha port and will be transported to Katara. It is a plain boot and will be modified along the way.” A ceremony at Kozhikode beach, Kerala, was held before the boot was transported to the country where thousands of people thronged to witness the giant football boot.
The world’s largest football boot is 17 feet long and 7 feet high, weighs almost 500kg and is made of the same materials used in making football boots -- fiber, leather, rexine, foam sheet and acrylic sheet -- to get the Guinness team’s approval. The making of it took seven months, from April to October this year.
Valiyaveetil emphasised that the project aims to express solidarity for Qatar’s efforts for highlighting football as a sport that brings global fraternity among the nations and people. Also, it adds a new chapter to India-Qatar cultural exchange.
He also said that the inspiration for the massive boot came from India’s first international football match in 1948 London Olympics. The match was against France and some players of the Indian team were barefoot. “From that history, we are coming to this moment with the world’s largest boot, that’s the inspiration behind this event.”
Katara Public Diplomacy Center (KPDC) CEO and Global Public Diplomatic Network Secretary General, Engr. Darwish Ahmed Al Shaibani praised the efforts of the Indian community in gifting the football boot to Qatar.
“They are the ones who are presenting this big boot, they are not in the World Cup but they are in Qatar, football is not their best game but they are contributing to this game,” he said
He stressed that the event would bring people together.
The boot is designed by artist and curator M Dileef who is a Guinness World Record holder. He is the creator of the world’s longest Quran, the largest marker pen, bicycle, sanitiser, screwdriver, among others.
The world’s largest boot will be unveiled next week, November 14, at 7pm, location in Katara has not yet been disclosed by the organisers. Meanwhile, a cultural procession will be held by Indian artists under the patronage of the Indian Cultural Center during the event.