By Chris Wright
Having been missing and assumed lost for many years, the square marble base of the original World Cup trophy has been discovered in storage at the FIFA headquarters.
According to BBC Sport, the blue block is the original base of the Jules Rimet trophy, which carries the names of the first four World Cup winners between 1930 and 1950 before it was replaced by a similar but slightly larger base in 1954.
Brazil were allowed to keep the full Jules Rimet gold statuette after winning their third World Cup title in 1970, though it was stolen in 1983 and has yet to be traced.
David Ausseil, creative director of FIFA’s museum told Associated Press:
“We think no FIFA president has seen it since Jules Rimet himself.
“We thought the base was lost in Brazil.
“It’s like finding an Egyptian mummy. You can’t put a price tag on it because it’s family jewels.”
There’s got to be a better way of putting that, David.
As for the newly-recovered base, the octagonal lump is scheduled to go on display in the FIFA World Football Museum in Zurich, due to open in Zurich next year.
That thing would make one hell of a paperweight.