The football fever that has gripped fans in Russia and across the world seems to have spread in many unexpected ways. On Friday July 6, ALROSA announced through its official Twitter handle that it had recovered a rough diamond that resembles the shape and appearance of a football at the Severalmaz-operated Karpinskaya-1 pipe in Arkhangelskiy region on July 4. This coincides with the country playing host to the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2018™ in which the country had unexpectedly progressed to the quarter-final.

ALROSA is one of the sponsors of the football event that has attracted attention from fans across the world and has used the occasion to unveil a number of football related marketing initiatives. This includes the launch of a special collection of 32 ‘football’ diamonds, to represent the number of participating teams. These are to be auctioned in Moscow this month.

The miner has also announced a contest inviting people to suggest a name the largest diamond in the collection, a 76.53 ct stone. The winner will be given a free ticket to witness the football World Cup final.

As per related reports in the media, the ‘football’ look-alike stone was a 0.50 ct rough diamond. It is to be named after Igor Akinfeev, Russia’s goalkeeper.

Pic caption: The ‘football’ look-alike rough diamond

Courtesy: ALROSA on Twitter