Right when the soccer fever is at its peak with the last matches of the World Cup 2018 quickly approaching, Russian giant Alrosa (MCX:ALRS) unearthed a diamond shaped as a soccer ball.
The 0.50-carat stone was found at the company’s Karpinskaya-1 pipe, located in the northern Arkhangelsk Region and operated by the miner’s subsidiary Severalmaz.
“Nature creates different whimsical shapes, but it’s the first time that we came across a diamond looking just like a soccer ball,” the world’s top diamond producer by output said in a statement.
Alrosa will name the diamond after Igor Akinfeev, Russia’s goalkeeper.
Being one of the main sponsors of the sports event taking place in its own country, the diamond producer also launched a “football” collection of 32 special size rough diamonds, which represent each of the countries taking part in the tournament.
The rocks will be auctioned in Moscow and among them, there is a large rough diamond weighing 76.53 carats, whose name is being chosen by fans in an online contest.