Iranian students are making arrangements to hold a shoe-throwing competition in honor of the journalist who threw his footwear at the U.S. president, local media said on Wednesday.

Muntazer al-Zaidi, a correspondent for the Cairo-based al-Baghdadiya TV channel, threw his shoes at George Bush during a news conference in Baghdad in mid-December and shouted in Arabic: "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, dog." Bush managed to duck the shoes.

Arabs around the world have been united in their approval and support for al-Zaidi and it has sparked the growth in online games giving the chance to succeed where the Iraqi journalist failed.

From the relatively sophisticated to the simple, the games have proven a worldwide hit. One of the most popular is called "Sock and Awe" a pun on the U.S. "Shock and Awe" military doctrine.

Iranian media said the real-live shoe-throwing competition will take place on the campus of Tehran University on December 26.

And although the organizers have not revealed the competition rules, it is known that the games will involve a portrait of Bush and a large quantity of shoes in what the media said is an "expression of solidarity for the respected Iraqi journalist."

Iran's foreign ministry has called for the release of al-Zaidi, currently in custody in central Baghdad.