On Wednesday, 30 April 2008, Dan Magness from the United Kingdom achieved the record for the longest time controlling a football on the back. He smashed the previous record of 27.7 seconds, achieving an impressive 2 min, 31 sec, during which he bounced the ball 100 times using his back. The event took place at the WOW Hotel and Conference centre in Istanbul, Turkey, and was the grand finale to the Bank Asya press launch for the sponsorship of 1.Lig Turkish football.

Dan Magness is a football freestyler with an array of dazzling skills – he controls the ball as if it were part of his body, making the most difficult of tricks look simple.

The event was attended by Guinness World Records™ Adjudicator Aadil Ahmed, as well as many members of the Turkish media. It attracted a great deal of interest, as football has a vast following in Turkey.

Dan was thrilled at his Guinness World Records achievement, and looks forward to attempting many more football-related records in the near future.

6 May 2008