The Dasharath Stadium is jam-packed in every international match Nepal plays, be it the senior or age group match. Nepal´s former national team coach Graham Roberts of England had often compared Nepali fans with the British football fans. [break]
“Nepal is a football mad country like England,” Roberts, the former England international had shared with the scribe.
England is often known as the mother of football and comparison of Nepali fans with the British might be a little farfetched. Moreover, there is a huge gap in the number of spectators in domestic and international football. But there is no denying that football remains the biggest crowd puller in the country.
Sadly, the Super League round of the Martyrs Memorial A Division Football League contested by eight best teams of domestic football has not been able to pull expected number of spectators.
The presence of spectators has declined sharply after the Qualifiers of AFC Challenge Cup compared to the first stage of league. “The presence of spectators in the league is not as expected,” ANFA CEO Indraman Tuladhar told Republica. “We expected more spectators than the first round.”
Tuladhar said, “The results in the Challenge Cup have discouraged spectators. The tournament would have pulled more spectators had Nepal reached the next stage.”
“Low presence of spectators has hit the clubs´ finances,” said Tuladhar. ANFA distributes 80 percent of the game money to teams concerned. The entry fee is Rs 200 for VIP and Rs 100 for ordinary parapet.
“The bad climatic condition and the break in league after the first round is the other reason for low turnout of spectators.”
Meanwhile, an ANFA official, who did not want to be named, has claimed that the turnout for the match played between NIBL Friends Club and NMB Bank Machhindra Club on Thursday was the lowest in four years.
Former national player and senior player of Nepal Police Club Parbat Pandey also echoed Tuladhar. “Poor performance and results of the Challenge Cup is largely responsible for the sharp decline in spectators´ turnout.”
Pandey, 33, who has played top tier domestic football for the last one-and-a-half decade classifies spectators into three categories. “The first types of football fans watch almost all the matches and are well informed about individual players and teams.”
“The second category of spectators is choosy and looks out for internationals and encounter between giants. And the third type comes for the match only when the entry is free of cost. The third type neither comes for a particular club nor to watch standard level football,” said Pandey.
The other reason according to Pandey is lack of consistent performance by players and unfavorable match schedule. “Had there been matches two or three days per week the turnout might have been different.”
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