NIGERIA: Nigeria unveils world's largest jersey in support of Super Eagles.

Record ID: 235935

  • Title: NIGERIA: Nigeria unveils world's largest jersey in support of Super Eagles.
  • Date: 22nd January 2013
  • Summary: `LAGOS, NIGERIA (JANUARY 21, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JERSEY DISPLAYED ON FOOTBALL PITCH VARIOUS OF GUESTS AND FANS PICKING UP MARKERS FOR SIGNING VARIOUS OF GUESTS WALKING TO SIGN GIANT JERSEY VARIOUS OF GUESTS SIGNING GOODWILL MESSAGES ON THE JERSEY (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTIN UFOMBA, MARKETING DIRECTOR, GUINNESS NIGERIA PLC SAYING: "Precisely the dimension are 275.5 times 249.9 meters squared, so you can take that number again, no jersey in the world has been unveiled to that size so again, its a record breaking achievement for Guinness and what we want to do with this is to have Nigerians who would truly support the Super Eagles, come into the stadium and append their signature and also sort of give their lovely comments on that jersey as a way of supporting the Super Eagles, be rest assured, this jersey is going to be handed over to the Super Eagles." VARIOUS OF FAN SIGNING ON THE JERSEY (SOUNDBITE) (English) OBINNA ANYALEBECHI, MARKETING MANAGER, GUINNESS NIGERIA PLC, SAYING: "Historically we have seen that whenever Nigerians come out to support the Super Eagles, they do very well. So we are just providing that platform for Nigerians to support the Super Eagles." VARIOUS OF FOUR ASIDE PLAYERS PLAYING SOCCER
  • Embargoed: 6th February 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA4JTP4W9LOZ8X5ET3ECZN9826J
  • Story Text: Nigeria unveiled the world's largest football jersey on Monday (January 21) to provide a platform for fans of the Super Eagles team to express their love and support fo players at the on-going Africa Nations Cup in South Africa.
    The jersey, sponsored by Guinness Nigeria PLC, took 20 days to produce and about four hours to lay on the Teslim Balogun football field in Lagos.
    Guests and fans trooped into the stadium to write goodwill messages for the Nigerian team.
    "Precisely the dimension are 275.5 times 249.9 meters squared, so you can take that number again, no jersey in the world has been unveiled to that size so again, its a record breaking achievement for Guinness and what we want to do with this is to have Nigerians who would truly support the Super Eagles, come into the stadium and append their signature and also sort of give their lovely comments on that jersey as a way of supporting the Super Eagles, be rest assured, this jersey is going to be handed over to the Super Eagles," said Austin Ufomba, Marketing Director for Guinness Nigeria PLC.
    The move is expected to encourage Nigerian fans who analysts say no longer believe in the Super Eagles because of failures in past soccer outings. Nigeria, which failed to qualify for last year's cup, last won the AFCON tournament in 1994 .
    "Historically we have seen that whenever Nigerians come out to support the Super Eagles, they do very well. So we are just providing that platform for Nigerians to support the Super Eagles," said Obinna Anyalebechi, Marketing Manager, Guinness Nigeria PLC.
    Currently in the commercial capital Lagos, the jersey is scheduled to tour other Nigerian cities before being handed over to the senior national team.
    The Nigerian team were held to a 1:1 draw against Les Etalons (The Stallions) of Burkina Faso who made a surprising comeback in their first game at the AFCON tournament on Monday.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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