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Bahrain national team midfielder Deena Rahman aims to make headlines yet again as she takes a shot at breaking her fifth Guinness World Record (GWR) all in the name of raising awareness about gender inequality in sport.
The 37-year-old Tekkers Academy director is planning on breaking the record for the ‘Most Penalties Taken in 24 Hours’ as part of this year’s Equal Playing Field’s (EPF) challenge, starting on Tuesday and ending on November 18 which is Guinness World Record Day.
Rahman was contacted by the founder of EPF, Laura Yongson, to join their initiative and after a Zoom session between the two and GWR, the goal was set.
“EPF is a grassroots, non-profit initiative that challenges gender inequality in sport and promotes sports development for girls and women globally,” said the footballer from Alquarraya.
“I always feel that I can play a role in this; being a female owning a sports academy in Bahrain, being one of the first pro players in Europe with Fulham FC, playing international football and taking opportunities to challenge myself and achieve unique and wonderful successes through football.
“That is what I hope will inspire not only our girls but all of our players here in Bahrain and others around the world.
“I have met and connected with so many amazing people around the world with EPF and this challenge is another chance for us to link again with livestream interviews with inspirational female athletes and leaders from across the globe throughout the record attempt.”
The current record for the most penalty kicks taken by Vickrant Mahajan in 24 hours is 1,111. However, there has been a recent attempt of 2,075 that has yet to be verified.
“My aim is to beat that,” explained Rahman. “I am really excited to be taking on this record which will be my fifth. Every record has been slightly different and this will be my first individual one so hopefully if I can achieve it, it will be a nice one to add to the others.”
Rahman’s first world record was notched in 2017 for playing the highest altitude football match at the top of the 5,895m Mount Kilimanjaro. Then in 2018 she set her second world record by competing at the lowest altitude at the Dead Sea in Jordan. The lowest exposed land on Earth is at the Dead Sea shore, at -413 metres and the lowest altitude game was an official FIFA regulated match held under the patronage of and in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Ali bin Al Hussein of Jordan.
Her third and fourth records were in France in 2019 when she and other global soccer stars set a new achievement for having the most players and nationalities ever participating in an official match. The successes came alongside the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.
EPF hosted the Festival of Football in an effort to ‘bring the world to the World Cup’. It was hosted at the Olympic Lyonnaise Training Academy in Meyzieu just outside of Lyon and the main attraction was the attempt to break the record for the most number of players to appear in a 5-a-side football match.
EPF broke the record with 822 participants across 69 consecutive hours of play. As for the most nationalities to participate in an exhibition game; there were 114 participants, representing 53 nationalities, over a 2 hours and 44 minutes match.
These inspirational initiatives are part of EPF’s aim at paving the way for equality in sport, pushing for equal representation and respect on the pitch and in life.
People can watch Rahman taking penalty shots at Kick Off Academy in Saar live from EPF’s YouTube channel from 7am on Tuesday, ending at 7am on November 18. The goalkeepers, which will be made up of coaches from her academy and ladies team players, will be rotating throughout the challenge.
EPF will be livestreaming the event, chatting with some special guests on Instagram Live, and amplifying the fight of female athletes worldwide.
