Israeli goalkeeper Yitzhak Hayak, 74 on April 13, has been crowned the world’s oldest active soccer player by Guinness World Records.
Hayak, plays for Maccabi Or Yehuda, a soccer club from the fifth division, the lowest in Israel.
The previous record was held by Robert Carmona of Uruguay who played for Club Pan de Azucar at the age of 53 years and 182 days on October 30, 2015.
To confirm the new record, a Guinness representative arrived Friday at the soccer field in the city of Or Yehuda, located in central Israel.
The representative examined documents showing Hayak’s date of birth (April 13, 1945) and watched Or Yehuda’s match in which Hayak played for 90 full minutes.
After the match, in which Or Yehuda lost 5-1 to Hapoel Ramat Israel, a Guinness World Records ceremony was held in the field, and Hayak was officially honoured as the new record holder.
“I have had a career of 64 years and will continue to play for at least 36 more. I’m after a sleepless night, it was not easy to play like that. This is a defining moment for me and for Israeli sports”, Hayak said after the ceremony.
