A TURKMENISTAN side have been denied the Guiness World Record for successive top-flight victories.
Welsh minnows The New Saints clocked up 27 straight wins back in 2016 but recently saw that stunning feat eclipsed.
ReutersBig-spending Al-Hilal got their name in the book of Guinness World Records[/caption]
AFPArkadag FC have won every competitive game in their entire history[/caption]
Saudi side Al-Hilal, who have former Premier League stars Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ruben Neves in their ranks as well as the injured Neymar, extended that to 34 last month.
However, in central Asia, Arkadag FC have won every competitive game in their entire history since they were created a year ago.
They lifted the Turkmenistan title in December after recording a whopping 72 points from 24 games.
They also had seven cup wins too and have six already this term, taking their tally to 37.
But despite that incredible run, the official record still remains over a thousand miles away in the Saudi Pro League.
And a spokesperson for Guinness World Records explained the reason why to the Guardian.
They said: “There’s relatively little detail available for the Turkmenistan league, less than we want for the kind of due diligence we carry out in our research for this and similar records.
“This may also be indicative of a level of governance and competition under what we’d ordinarily look for as well.
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“All this being considered, we have confirmed Al-Hilal as the record holder.”
Despite having a 6.5m population, the isolated Turkmenistan is one of the most secretive countries on the planet.
And the way that Arkadag were created could also be a hurdle.
Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan from 2006 to 2022, loved his ‘Arkadag’ nickname, which translated means ‘hero protector’.
Prior to handing over power to his son, Serdar, he ordered a city to be built at the cost of $5bn which was named Arkadag.
That has a population of 70,000 and in 2023 the football team was created with the best players in the country all signing for them.
The league’s transfer window was extended in order to help them secure the influx of stars.
They ended their maiden campaign with +66 goal difference – and it is already at +30 after just six games of this term.
This fresh report states that Berdymukhamedov is desperate to somehow get his new city into the Guinness World Records somehow.
And he allegedly believes that once they start competing in Asian competitions then it will be impossible for them to continue to be ignored.
And, of course, that could also see them eventually go head-to-head with rivals Al-Hilal in a match that could equate to someone’s 0 having to go.