Athletes stressed the need to take advantage of the public attendance of the stands, as a solution to face the shrinking expected budgets of clubs after the Corona pandemic.
They emphasized that the referendum challenging the "most popular clubs" in the Arab Gulf League, which was conducted by "Emirates Today" earlier this month, and achieved record numbers with the participation of one million and 47 thousand and 933 voters, proved that the majority of the country's clubs have a huge mass popularity on social media platforms And we must find the marketing means that lead them to be in the stadiums.
The athletes suggested that there should be a national project in which some ministries, sports authorities and the media participate, to take advantage of the residents and expatriates present in the country and their appetite to buy match tickets to support the clubs financially.
For his part, sports analyst Dr. Ahmed Al-Awadi stressed that the public has become the primary means by which efforts should be focused on in the post-Corona period.
He said: "It must be noted that the population in the Emirates is between citizens and residents, amounting to eight million and 200 thousand people, according to the latest statistics. So why do we not work on all these numbers and find appropriate solutions to attract them to our stadiums, whether for the league or the national team matches?"
He pointed out: “It is important that we create innovative ideas to encourage community audiences to attend, for example, that a fan who attends at least 18 games in the league gets a ticket for his country back and back and an organized campaign for this project is prepared in the media and social media, This simple incentive will have a great resonance with the entire community. ”
He added: “We must make optimal use of the Ministry of Education, encourage students to attend, and we will achieve definite success in solving the mass attendance problem that we suffer, and I will set an example, the Baniyas Education City area, which includes 25 thousand students, and if we could attract 25% of This number of stadiums will be a wonderful thing, with finding appropriate incentives for each school that contributes to the attendance of its students in large numbers, by supporting them with sports tools, to motivate students to exercise regularly.
Ahmed Al-Awadi suggested that the Professional Association allocate financial rewards to clubs with the highest public presence in the league, as well as deduct a percentage of the financial returns for clubs that fail to work to attract fans to the stands, and allocate those allocations to clubs that have emerged in this work.
For his part, Khaled Obaid, former director of the football team in Al-Nasr Club, said that changing the fans ’culture by watching their clubs’ matches in front of television screens, or behind social media platforms, is a responsibility that falls primarily on the clubs ’marketing committees.
He added, "The time has come for marketing committees to have a greater role in the coming stage to find different income for clubs than they were dependent on by the government and sponsors, because the effect of (Corona) will impose itself on everyone."
He continued: “The challenge of (the most popular clubs) revealed that most of the country's clubs have a large fan base that must be used optimally as a solution available to them to improve their financial returns, and the matter at its beginning will be difficult but not impossible, and the first of the proposals is the best choice for foreign players, especially Among the highly skilled, and the experiences in some clubs are the best evidence for this, there are many names that have professionalized in our league that played an influential role in attracting fans to the stands, especially as the quality of our fans enjoys this type of player and they are behind them in all matches ».
Obaid noted: “We must admit that we surrendered in the previous period to social media platforms that created lazy fans who no longer want to go to the stadiums as long as they can see everything while they are sitting in their homes or in commercial centers, so these rights must be offered in return for money. His return is allocated to clubs in support of their financial efforts.
For his part, Ajman Club Vice-Chairman Ahmed Al-Foura affirmed that the Professional Association has made constructive efforts towards attracting fans for the stands, and the clubs should work with them side by side towards increasing the public presence in football stadiums.
He said: “We must take advantage of the Corona pandemic, in setting up (tents) on matchday and educating residents and expatriates, on the importance of preserving public health, whether for individuals or society, in the presence of doctors and nutritionists, which would achieve a common benefit whether it is community or football matches in particular ».
The «Emirates Today» referendum set records with the participation of more than one million votes.
Syed Mustafa À Dubai