Some of my friends have been following the World Cup pretty religiously, one even providing quick previews of each game on Facebook. But no matter how devoted these friends might be, they’ve got nothing on Adam Santarossa. The 23-year-old Australian soccer fan is spending all 31 days of the World Cup inside a giant replica of a Jabulani ball (not the one at right), the official ball of the FIFA World Cup.
As The Australian reports, Santarossa was chosen by Adidas and soccer magazine FourFourTwo following a month-long search. The ball he’ll be living in is 6 meters in diameter and located in Melbourne, along the banks of the Yarra River. As part of the deal, he’s required to watch every single World Cup match (horrible, I know), tweeting and blogging about his experience and recording a video diary that’s being posted on YouTube.
You might think being stuck in an oversized ball for a month wouldn’t be your ideal vacation, but Santarossa’s got it pretty good. As AFP notes, he “has a cleaner, free laundry, a PlayStation 3 and a laptop, and will get 3,000 Australian dollars ($2,600 USD) for his trouble, along with the contents of the ball and three bags of sports gear.” Those other items include a Sony Bravia LCD flat-screen TV, a bunk bed and a refrigerator. He’s even able to have friends drop in and, fortunately, will be able to leave the ball for bathroom breaks and meals.
Unfortunately for Santarossa, his favorite team, Australia, has been knocked out of the tournament, and he’s also had to deal with people looking into windows at all hours, but he seems to be enjoying himself just the same. As he was quoted in AFP, “I’m going to be seeing if they can extend my lease.”
You can follow his in-ball adventures here.
Photo by warrenski via Flickr.