The World Cup is the most iconic trophy in the sport of football, and the most beloved by fans and players alike. By creating a replica made with petrol from Qatar together with artist and activist Andrei Molodkin, we were able to put a conversation in the table of mass media across the world about the corruption and dark stories surrounding the 2022 World Cup, reaching an audience that Revista Libero couldn't have reached otherwise.

Sports media is dominated by big conglomerates that avoid to expose the darkest stories of associations like FIFA to keep their access to information and ad investment.

Being an independent publication, Libero Magazine has the responsibility to talk about the dark stories surrounding the selection of Qatar as host country for the 2022 World Cup, from the bribes paid to FIFA executives according to an FBI investigation, to the issues regarding human rights of the country and the stadiums building process.

Libero had a unique opportunity to share those stories with a special issue focusing on the dark side of the World Cups. But we needed to get it noticed in a moment where everybody would be talking about the competition.

The challenge was to create an idea the front cover of the special issue that got the conversation started.

We collaborated with artist and activist Andrei Molodkin to create "The Dirtiest Cup", a trophy made with petrol from Qatar. A replica of the iconic World Cup Trophy made from a hollow block of plexiglass, that got petrol pumped inside the negative mold of the cup with a compressor and a series of pipes, tainting its interior.

A metaphor of a dirty, empty competition that was auctioned for $150MM, the same amount paid in bribes according to the FBI investigation.

This symbol of a dirty World Cup became the image of the front cover and back of the magazine, as well as a news piece inside the publication.

The World Cup is the world's most treasured trophy in the world of football, beloved by fans and players alike. To raise awareness of the darkest side of 2022 World Cup, we created a replica of its most famous icon, filling it with petrol from Qatar.

We named the new trophy so that the message came across clear and direct: "The Dirtiest Cup", a trophy to remind us who the real winners of this World Cup were.

The Dirtiest Cup soon trascended the paper of the magazine, even the sports universe and broke it's way to mainstream media outlets, both local and international, grabbing attention, and informing about what was happening in Qatar.

A great way to connect with an audience that's not only interested in football, but in the social and ethical questions involving the 2022 competition and its context.

We decided to commission the creation of the new trophy to Andrei Molodkin, an artist and activist famous for working with materials such as blood and petrol to make statements.

Once he designed and created it, the whole installation of the trophy and petrol pumps was photographed to become the front cover of Libero's special issue dedicated to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

The week before the start of the competition, we launched the magazine and showcased the art piece in an important art gallery in one of Madrid's trendiest neighborhoods.

Weeks later, the day of the Finals, the Dirtiest Cup travelled to London to be exhibited in a/political art gallery (an organization that collaborates with artists with a social side in their works).

Also, Getty Images portrayed The Dirtiest Cup, and decided to feature it permanently in their images gallery.

The Dirtiest Cup trascended the audience of Libero Magazine and sport fans, and the story got covered by some of the biggest media across the whole world, including The Guardian, The Financial Times, Forbes, or Deutsche Welle, as well as the main Spanish newspapers such as El País, and even national TV and radio stations like RTVE or La Sexta, among many others.

The PR value reached 2,7 million euros. All without a single euro spent in media.

In total, we got more than 325 million impacts for the campaign.

This was a huge boost not only to the special issue magazine, but for the whole Libero Magazine sales, that went up by +17% during the time of the campaign.