Dubai: UAE Football Association (UAE FA) president Marwan Bin Ghalita admits the Arabian Gulf League needs to engage more people of all nationalities not just Emiratis, if they are to fill empty stadiums.
Speaking at the Dubai International Sports Conference on Tuesday, Bin Ghalita said: “In order for clubs to increase revenues we must make use of the presence of communities within our own societies and change this concept that local football is limited to our own citizens.
“We are limiting ourselves by solely focusing on engaging Emirati supporters and must focus on the broader picture.
“People here like football but they don’t love it and we must find a way — with all parties working together on activities and activations — to find a solution and import the passion for football that is seen in other parts of the world.”
Local clubs must become economically viable, independent of government support by 2021, according to a national plan to revolutionise sport. And engaging a larger fan base to gain from greater gate receipts and shirt sales is key to that vision.
Al Nasr recently said they were exploring the possibility of arranging friendlies with Indian Super League clubs in order to tap into the Indian expatriate market. There are 2.2 million Indian expatriates in the UAE making up around 30 per cent of the total population.
Bin Ghalita said another way to draw attention to the league would be to export Emirati talent overseas.
“Sending a UAE citizen to play abroad would be one of the most advanced steps towards crowd creation. We are proud to already have an Emirati coach managing the Jordanian national team (in Abdullah Misfer) but now it’s our ambition to send our own players abroad too.”
