An experiment to attract more fans to UAE football matches will either prove to be a success or failure tonight when the Pro League Super Cup kicks off at Dubai Sports City.
For the first time, money has been spent on a marketing campaign in both English and Arabic to raise the profile of a match featuring Al Ahli, the Pro League champions and Al Ain, the President's Cup winners. The Pro League games last season averaged 2,500 spectators but officials say they hope around 20,000 will be in attendance for tonight's action - proving that, with the right organisation, there is a hunger for domestic football in the country.
"The capacity is 25,000, if we sell 20,000 tickets we will be happy," said the league chairman Tarqi Al Tayer who has commissioned Dh300,000 to be spent on promoting the game. Convincing fans to turn up for domestic games is the next step.
Under new Asian Football League rules, club's require a minimum of 5,000 supporters to gain entry to the 2011 AFC Champions League.
"We are hoping for good attendances, but only tonight can show us if the promotion has been a success," commented the marketing and communications manager Luca Baldanza.
"Promoting the league is the responsibility of the clubs.
'We are helping them by showing them how to promote themselves, but it is up to the club to attract fans."
Under the new rules ten per cent of seats at each game will be allocated to audiences targeted under specific promotions. Plans are also in the pipeline for all Pro League clubs to launch youth academies.
"We are putting plans in place to help clubs encourage fans. By next summer we hope all clubs will have youth academies that anyone can join.
"This will help expatriates and locals feel part of their local club," continued Al Tayer.
"We need to upgrade the infrastructure, too. Clubs in other countries offer food, drinks and entertainment, we need to offer the same.
"Attracting expats is important. There is a big gap that we are trying to narrow."
Attracting an average of 5,000 fans a match is too big a challenge, according to Khaled Al Awadh, the Al Wahda club chairman
"It is too much. It is a very big challenge. In previous years we have paid people to come to the games, but we've stopped now," said Al Awadh.
"People would rather watch the football at home.
"We are doing what we can. Tickets have been reduced by 50 per cent, from Dh20 to Dh10.
"The Pro League should do more to help us, but I don't know what they can do. We'd like to have an open academy, but finding the budget is a problem."
sports@thenational.ae
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Gulf Under 19s final
Dubai College A 50-12 Dubai College B
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: From Dh280,000
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh289,000
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.