Matchstick marvel: Frenchman’s Eiffel Tower quest goes up in flames

Richard Plaud, a 47-year-old Frenchman, spent eight years and 4,200 hours crafting a model of the Eiffel Tower.

Using 706,900 matchsticks Richard’s aim was to beat the Guinness World Record set by Lebanese Toufic Daher in 2009.

However, despite his towering creation reaching 7.19m (23.6ft), his Guinness application was rejected.

Guinness stated rules required matches available to the public, without red tips, and unaltered.

Plaud bought matches initially but was tired of removing red tips, so he bought unprocessed ones from a French manufacturer, unintentionally disqualifying himself.

Plaud expressed frustration on social media, highlighting the sticks he used were essentially matches and questioned Guinness’s criteria.

Although disappointed, he showcased his model to 4,000 people in Saujon.

Looking ahead, Plaud hoped to display his creation at the Paris Olympics but was informed of insufficient space.

Responding to the controversy, Mark McKinley, director of central records services at Guinness World Records, acknowledged: “It’s the job of our records management team to be thorough and meticulous in reviewing evidence to ensure fairness for all attempting a Guinness World Records title.”

“However, it appears we may have been overly stringent in this case,” he added.