12 February 2012

UAE football's quest to tap into the Filipino audience




By Gary Meenaghan


Before Johan Cruyff's twisting turns, before Rivaldo's ripsnorting volleys and long before Lionel Messi's devastating dribbles, Barcelona's favourite adopted son hailed from the Philippines. His name was Paulino Alcantara and he scored 357 goals in 357 games - a record that stands almost a century later.


If you already knew of Alcantara you would have been in the minority at last night's exhibition match between the Philippines national football team and the Uzbekistan Under 23 side at Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai.

Only one of the 10 or so spectators who were asked on the way into the stadium had heard of Alcantara's exploits.

The ignorance was not surprising: football in the southeast Asian country is at an embryonic stage of its development.

Boxing and basketball remain the big draws, so much so that in 2005 the team were rebranded the Azkals - which translates from Tagalog as "stray dogs" - after players lamented the fact they were constantly fighting for the spectatorial leftovers of the nation's two most popular sports.

Since then, the team has grown in popularity in their home country. Michael Weiss, the Azkals coach, told me earlier this week that every home game is a sell-out, while Philip and James Younghusband, two England-born Filipinos who play for the national team, have become familiar faces, featuring in television adverts and on promotional billboards in their mother's native country.

Such is the 500,000-strong Filipino expatriate community in the Emirates that promoters had hoped last night's match would attract a larger attendance than the average UAE Pro League game.

It did not quite achieve its goal, but the passionate Filipinos proved there is a market there to be tapped. And with 1,202 fans each paying at least Dh50 for their tickets, it is a lucrative - and very vocal - one at that.

Rommel Manalo, a Filipino consultant, has been following the Azkals' progress from afar since moving to the Emirates six years ago.

He attended last night's match because, as he put it, he is "soccer mad" and "usually they play in Malaysia or Singapore so it is not often we get to see them like this".

And yet he has never been to a Pro League game. "I would go if one of the teams had a Filipino player," he said.

So, could a Filipino footballer achieve what George Weah, Fabio Cannavaro and Diego Maradona have failed to do, namely, fill stadiums for local league matches?

The Pro League obviously was aware of the potential.

The league's committee had a stall outside the ground last night that, according to the public realtions and protocol officer Mahmoud Ashmar, was the first such kiosk erected at a non-Pro League match.

A mass of bodies swarmed around it 20 minutes before kick off as Ashmar, together with a colleague, offered free baseball caps in exchange for email addresses.

"We have had maybe 100 people sign up tonight," Ashmar said, explaining that each person must also declare their favourite UAE team.

A quick look through the register showed Al Wasl and Al Ahli popular choices, although there was a small group of people who announced their love for "Deira".

Ace Marquez, from Manila, said he did not know much about UAE football, but would "definitely" show his support if he had a compatriot to cheer on, while Alan Alleb said patriotism would ensure Filipinos would turn out. "I would be excited to watch," he said.

Even as the Azkals slipped to a 3-0 defeat, the crowd remained buoyant, cheering throughout, even when the opposition came close to scoring.

And always in a pitch far higher than any Al Nasr game has ever witnessed.

At one point, as Phil Younghusband lined up a first-half free-kick, one of the many females in the crowd screamed: "Bend it like Beckham".
Agnes Pascqual said even though football is a male-dominated sport and she does not usually watch, even on TV, the idea of showing support to her country brought her and her friends out.

"I don't know any of the players," she said. "But I am a proud Filipino, so I wanted to come and see the team play."


The National

9 comments:

  1. Interest in football is waning. Recent debacles have made band wagon fans turn away in droves. Azkals home games did not attract a sell out crowd. USE football crowd attendance will not improve if they add a crappy home grown player in their roster.

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    1. What makes the resent home game didn't sell out is because the ticket is to high for the masses!, and yes! maybe i wont convince you to believe on the phenomenon of football here in our country, pero alam ko na nood ka ng futbol at UFL/ASKAL game kasi alam mo e!....hahaha!

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    1. United States of the Emirates...... LOL!!!!

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  3. Even the local league cannot attract a large crowd - even if its free entrance! I'll give it another year before advertisers ignore ufl, Azkals continue their slump and crash out of the Challenge Cup, humiliate themselves with a hammering from North Korea. Then lose all their games in this years Suzuki cup. Expect ABS CBN to drop the Azkals and were back from where we once started. Ignored by the general public.

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    1. Personally I would see that as a good thing..... in the sense that we'll finally be able to see who the genuine football fans/supporters (specifically Philippine football) are. Although I think there will still be those who stick around. Specifically the hysterical fan girls who have little crushes on some of the players and all that BS.

      The supposed resurgence of the Philippine football, more so with the national team.... its just a fad. Fads eventually die out!

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    2. Imagine what would happen if they start charging for tickets? Families and friends of players can no longer come to the venue cause they can't afford to anymore. Bad for tv.

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    3. Damn your life is so negative. I wonder how you doing in life. Win or lose I will still follow/support the MNT and the UFL

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  4. Sorry for the negative minds there pero football is here to stay dahil maraming mga bata ang gustong maglaro ng beautiful game na ito. Mag selos nlng kayo...

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