The UAE Football Association and the clubs in the UAE First and Second Division leagues would do well to heed the call of General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, for a professional approach.
Shaikh Mohammad, who last week received the First Division League champions Al Wahda after their triumph, urged the clubs and their leaders to adopt a professional approach in their management.
Some of the clubs have moved ahead and created sources of income to reduce their reliance on financial support from the government or individuals. They have also been successful in roping in sponsors.
But many of the clubs are still lagging behind and it must be mentioned that this is more due to their unprofessional approach, rather than the dearth of funds.
Club managements have to realise that sponsors will follow once they are convinced that the club or its players are popular and they do gain by virtue of publicity and mileage. But even to this day, when even business organisations depend on information technology for a major share of their success, many UAE clubs do not even have a proper website.
Major sponsors like car manufacturers, producers of household electronic goods etc, have their headquarters based in various parts of the world.
The least they would require from the team they have supported is a comprehensive web site with a section in the English language.
The clubs must create attractive websites to use both as a tool to keep their fans in touch with constant news and also let fans, officials and even journalists both inside and outside the UAE keep in touch.
The more interesting information is disseminated the greater will be the reach. Even the UAE Football Association has a website but most of the sections flash the sign 'Coming soon' and this has been happening for quite some time now.
With UAE clubs playing in the AFC Championships League and the UAE national team also featuring in international matches, news and details of the club and players will enhance their status.
Fans must be lured
The UAE First Division league, since adopting a part-professional approach of signing two foreign players, has seen some of the world's top players in action like George Weah, Abedi Pele, Kalusha Bwalya, Karim Bahgeri, Ali Daei, Ali Karimi and Edilson, among others. But the clubs have not been able to attract the fans.
While a professional approach could lure the fans, the clubs may also have to rethink the presence of 'uninterested fans'.
Huge groups of such fans are herded into the stadiums and even when some thrilling action is being dished out on the field they are engrossed in their songs and slogans.
They outnumber the genuine fans who are now gradually opting to watch the telecasts at home rather than withstand such 'out of sync' cheering.
The live telecasts also do little to win over more fans, particularly the non-Arab speaking viewers. It is very difficult for such viewers to figure out what is happening. The score-lines should at least frequently be flashed in English so that the casual fan can identify the teams and the status of the match.
The clubs must make an attempt to try and win over the large population of expatriates and since the sport is football it is a lot easier when compared to other games. But to achieve this and much more the key word is 'professionalism'.
Gulf News
