Getting 'real' fans a big problem
The labourers and workers, masked as ‘fans’, got a token
gift of few Qatari riyals and a KFC packet to fill their heart and tummy during
the 90 minutes match, but all they needed to do was add lip-sync ‘Annabi,
Annabi’ to the band played at the stands to support the Qatar national team
against the Chinese side.
Qatar won 1-0 and the following one too against Maldives (4-0) to top the Group C qualifiers in the second round, but the apathy of real fans continued to be one of the grey areas.
Qatar has a population of about 2 million, but just one in eight are Qataris. The majority are migrant workers from the Philippines, India, Pakistan and an incredible 400,000 are from Nepal. Most of them are working on the building sites that will help Qatar deliver the Middle East’s first World Cup.
Even during the country’s top flight competition — Qatar Stars League — the teams play mostly to the empty stands with many past international greats have lamented the thin presence of local fans.
Barring Al Rayyan club, which has a sizeable presence, others struggle to fill their stadiums and, it’s only then they fall back on the companies to ‘borrow’ their workers and get them to applaud and do the wave.
Not having their own people at the stadiums is something needs to be addressed. It’s one of the biggest problems ailing the FIFA 2020 World Cup hosts as most Qatari youths don’t have a great liking for any sports. They’re attracted to the posh malls and other landmark places in the city for an evening outing where they keep themselves busy on mobile phones and tablets.
“Easy money is affecting our society,” said one top Qatari official, who nicely summed up the issue.
The Qatari clubs don’t have any ancient rivalry history like Real Madrid-Barcelona or our own Mohun Bagan-East Bengal and, this could probably be one of the reasons why the Qataris turn their faces away from football stadiums.
Besides, a nationalistic feeling is of utmost important to bring the people together at sports venues, which are micrographic representations of societies.
Interestingly, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) determines the quota of a country’s representation in the continent’s premier club tournament Champions League, based on the attendances at different venues.
Qatar were ranked ninth overall in last year’s list published in November, having bagged only 56.103 points out of 100, with Saudi Arabia second (88.268) and UAE seventh (57.792).
Every year, the top clubs recruit big international names, but they too have not been impactful. Barcelona and Spain great Xavi joined a growing list of well-known players and managers, but the Spaniard ended up playing in front of empty stands in his debut match for Al Sadd in August.
In fact, the clubs should engage women and children in a culturally-sensitive manner to increase attendance at their league matches. Just like the major restaurants and dining places have separate family areas, the football venues must also cater to the families. Unlike in Saudi Arabia, where the women are barred from entering stadiums, Qatar is a bit open about welcoming families to the venues.
“In Europe, we’ve a culture of going to matches with friends or family and watch the game together. But in Doha, people hang out with friends, have shisha (hookah) and watch games on TV,” said Dutchman Huib de Vries, a Doha resident and a die-hard Sadd fan.
Instead of a Xavi, clubs must hire players from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal — who have huge expatriates in the country.
The communities will only then take interest in the local league and genuinely support the teams instead of having ‘masked’ fans waiting at the queue for a spicy-cheesy KFC burger!
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