Crowds give thumbs down to Sharjah Cup

Sharjah, March 27: There are no Mexican waves. No deafening roars piercing through the sky. No fluttering flags all around to trigger a riot of colours in the stands. And there are no fans shouting hoarse, dancing on the samba beats.

The Sharjah stadium, famous for its unique fanfare, wears a strange, indifferent look in the ongoing tournament.

Despite the fact that the tournament field - India, Pakistan, South Africa - is as good as it gets for an expatriate cricket fan in the UAE, the crowd, curiously enough, is giving a big thumbs down to the event so far.

Why the die-hard cricket-starved fans of the country are staying away from the stadium this time round. Is the newly-raised ticket prices pinching the already shallow pockets of the fans or is this glut of cricket events around the world?

"Certainly the crowd has been the lowest ever during this tournament so far. The hiked ticket prices are probably a major factor in keeping the crowd out this time round," said a CBFS official, requesting anonymity.

The highest official attendance figure during this tournament was 14,500 on Sunday during the India-Pakistan game, which makes well below 60 percent of the 25,000 capacity venue. An unbelievably low attendance for an important India-Pakistan clash surprised many Sharjah stadium regulars.

The tournament opener between India and South Africa could just drew 7,000 fans to the stadium while Pakistan-South Africa game the following day recorded one of the lowest crowds ever at 6000-mark.

The prices of the Grand, Members and players stands registered an increase of 40-50 per cent this time round. Players stand went up from Dh165 to Dh250 for a weekday, Grand stand jumped from Dh200 to Dh300 while Members enclosure leapt from Dh300 to Dh500. The West, East and North stands, the backbone of gate-money as most of the people there actually pay to watch the game, registered no change in ticket-price but the weekend price which is 170, 110 and 65 respectively is charged on Thursday and Friday.

"I don't see any reason to spend at least 65 dirhams to watch a game which I can easily watch on TV," said Faiz Ahmed, an ardent cricket fan residing in Sharjah.

S. Krishna, a supermarket worker in Dubai, also recorded the same views: "No, there is no point going to the stadium, it's a waste of time and money. I used to go before especially for a India-Pakistan game, but not anymore. Now I don't have this much money to spend."