In 2002, a scoreboard in Madagascar displayed a result that looked like a typo: AS Adema 149-0 SOE Antananarivo. It remains the highest-scoring professional football match in history, but the winning team didn’t actually have to work for a single goal.
The record-breaking score wasn’t down to a massive gulf in class. Instead, it was the result of the most extreme protest the sport has ever seen. Following a controversial penalty decision in a previous match that cost them the title, SOE Antananarivo decided to make a statement.
As soon as the whistle blew, the SOE players turned around and smashed the ball into their own net. They did this 149 times. While their opponents stood in bewilderment, the SOE players maintained their protest for the full 90 minutes.
The fallout was immediate. Fans stormed the ticket booths demanding refunds for the “farce” they had just witnessed. The Madagascar Football Federation didn’t see the funny side either; they handed the SOE manager a three-year ban and suspended four of the team’s stars.
It was a protest that guaranteed them a spot in the Guinness World Records, but it came at the cost of their careers.