Alrosa’s World Cup Play Continues

Moscow--With the 2018 World Cup taking place in its home country through mid-July, Alrosa is staying on the ball.

Thursday, the diamond mining company announced a competition open to the public to give the best original, football-related name, consisting of one or two words, to a rough diamond weighing 76.53 carats.

The winner will receive a ticket to the FIFA World Cup final, scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. EST on July 15 in Moscow, as well as a certificate proving the stone was named at her or his suggestion.

Suggestions are being accepted now through July 8 on DiamondsofRussia.Ru. The winner will be announced July 10.

Alrosa mined the 76.53-carat rough diamond at the International kimberlite pipe in March. It’s octahedron in shape with a yellowish tint, the company said.

It’s the main stone in a collection of large (more than 10.8 carats) diamonds Alrosa is selling at auction now in Moscow. There are 33 other stones in the group.

The results of the auction will be announced July 30.

“FIFA World Cup 2018 is a landmark event for the fans not only in Russia, but all over the world,” said Evgeny Agureev, member of the executive committee and director of the USO Alrosa. “It has just started, but has already given people a lot of positive emotions and many unexpected turns. We believe that the diamonds from this collection will be of particular interest to our customers, since these are not just stones, but the story behind them.”

The news of the contest follows closely on the heels of a few other World Cup-related announcements and events from the company as it aims to draw attention to Russian diamonds while the international football tournament is taking place.

Alrosa announced June 22 that it is selling a collection of 32 round diamonds—one for each team that made the international tournament—that are 0.3-carats each but D to F color and VVS2 to IF clarity.

The company also has had its name and logo displayed on the digital advertising boards at the various stadiums used throughout the tournament, alongside advertisers like Coca-Cola, Visa, Budweiser and Russian natural gas company Gazprom.