Something this column has been advocating for a while has been initiatives by the Pro League Committee to attract new fans given many matches take place against a backdrop of empty stands.

The good news is that this week the PLC began that process by unveiling a trial concept called Match of the Week, which highlights the biggest game of the round and then works with sponsors to create events and promotion around it.

They picked the perfect week to launch the scheme with Diego Maradona's Al Wasl and the League and President's Cup champions Al Jazira going head-to-head and the UAE under-23 side qualifying for the London Olympics after a superb, come-from-behind 3-2 win in Uzbekistan.

From two hours before kick-off the new scheme will see clappers, t-shirts and refreshments given away, music playing, ball-juggling and face painting and, in the case of the Al Jazira - Al Wasl match, the chance for fans to win an iPad2 thanks to Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

Wrong perception

It is all very appealing and part of a move to remove the perception - a wrong one in my experience - that the Pro League is simply by locals for locals. And if the concept works the PLC hopes it can be continued not only for the rest of this season but also rolled out by all clubs next term.

It is hardly as if any Al Jazira - Al Wasl match needs extra promotion, especially given the events of the past week which, even by the standards of UAE football, have scaled new heights of craziness.

First came the sacking of Jazira coach Franky Vercauteren, an apparent victim of player power with some, it was claimed in the media, not liking the style of play he brought with him from Belgian champions Genk. But any suggestion he had "lost" the dressing room seemed to be dispelled just 24 hours before his sacking as Jazira recovered from 2-0 down in chilly Uzbekistan to record a superb 4-2 win in the first match of their latest AFC Champions League campaign.

Jazira, so often held up as a club that resists the hire-and-fire mentality shown by others have done just that and, no matter what the reasoning, it is sad to see. Even sadder was an admission the club had been looking for a replacement for three weeks before finally wielding the axe. The new man in the hot-seat, Caio Junior, brought in to bring back some Brazilian style to the team's play, had just two days with the squad before the Etisalat Cup semi-final against Al Shabab and the result was a 4-0 loss, a humiliation for a team that dominated the qualifying stages.

Harsh ban

As for Al Wasl, even allowing for the non-stop publicity that Maradona's presence brings, this week has been remarkable too. The Cheetahs lost the other Etisalat Cup semi-final 1-0 to Al Ahli and in the immediate aftermath goalkeeper Majed Naser lost his cool and slapped Ahli coach Quique Sanchez Flores on the back of the head.

Even a subsequent trip to Flores' house that evening to apologise was not enough to spare Majed from a 17-match ban, a remarkably harsh punishment by any standards and one that Wasl say they will appeal. By comparison, Sheffield Wednesday's Paulo di Canio was banned for 11 matches when he pushed referee Paul Alcock in the Premier League in 1998.

One certainty is that UAE football is never dull - Jazira, Wasl and the under-23s have illustrated that. Let us hope that fact, allied to the PLC's initiative, will serve as an encouragement to get more people through the gates of matches.