Kerala Blasters’ fan club to convert huge tifo into eco-friendly consumer product

The enormous banner was unfurled during the club’s match against Bengaluru FC on Sunday

The Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here was literally bouncing with boisterous yellow-clad fans of the Kerala Blasters FC ahead of their team’s match against archrival Bengaluru FC last Sunday, when exactly at 7.20 p.m. a giant tifo started unfurling from the top tier of the gallery.

The tifo had unfurled to its enormous full size of 11,800 sq ft with a width of 103 m and length of 10.60 m by the time the Kochi Blasters players walked into the turf three minutes, later thus according them a rousing reception.

Manjappada, the biggest fan club of the team, which arranged the event and synchronised the whole event in coordination with the team management, has claimed that it is the largest tifo in a football stadium in Asia.

“To our knowledge, there had been no bigger tifo in any football stadium in Asia. We have initiated steps to get it recognised by the India Book of Records,” Nikhil Thomas, president of Manjappada, told a press conference here on Thursday. They are now planning to recycle the tifo into an eco-friendly consumer product.

The tifo in the blue and yellow colours of the Kochi Blasters featured images drawn by the popular artist who goes by the name Pencil Ashan on social media. It was created based on Manjappada’s theme ‘together we fight’ and prominent was the image of team manager Ivan Vukomanović riding a tusker, the team’s mascot, which had its trunk wrapped around the neck of two eagles, the mascot of Bengaluru FC.

“It featured the entire spectrum of fanbase of the Kochi Blasters, including the women community and the physically challenged, while the manager represented the team. The message was that both the team and the fans fight together,” said Mr. Thomas.

Getting the giant tifo weighing about 250 kg to the third tier of the gallery ahead of the match wasn’t an easy task. It took 27 persons to carry it by foot. Unfurling it was an equally challenging task needing coordination among the spectators.