One of the most entertaining finals of Bangladesh's domestic football in recent history took place in Comilla Tuesday between fierce arch-rivals Abahani and Mohammedan, but the gallery was still almost half empty.
Former star defender Hasan Al Mamun recalled in a TV interview prior to the final that there was a time when thousands of supporters would wait outside the jam-packed venue to know the update of any Dhaka Derby.
The SAFF Championship winning full-back featured for both Abahani and Mohammedan.
He played for Abahani in the mid 1990s before joining Mohammedan in the late 2000s.
He has seen the drastic change among the fans for an Abahani-Mohammedan match which has now become a mere shadow of the golden past.
A case in example is veteran fan Hanif Pappu who had no plans to watch the grand finale and eventually skipped.
Artist Pappu lives in Old Dhaka where he also grew up.
The biggest group of the die-hard Abahani-Mohammedan supporters evolved from this part of the city during the heydays.
He was one of them and used to take a long walk from Malitola-Nawabpur area to Dhanmondi just to watch the training session of his favorite club Abahani.
“We managed the tickets in the morning for the afternoon game and there was big queue for ticket. The stadium was always jam packed. Sometimes, we didn't get any space. Those days are gone,” Pappu told Dhaka Tribune.
Internationally recognized artist Hanif Pappu at his workplace in Old Dhaka Dhaka Tribune The internationally recognized artist had his own take on why the enthusiasm of Abahani and Mohammedan fans is nowhere near like before.
“The craze for domestic football started reducing after the popularity of cricket increased. People started loving cricket and when Bangladesh played the World Cup they fully leaned towards cricket,” he said.
Pappu also thinks that the standard of domestic football does not attract the fans anymore.
“The craze for football returned only once after every four years during the World Cup where the games are top-notch. If there are good games here with quality players, people will surely go to the matches. The interest is still there but the standard is not,” he explained.
“We had players like Hafiz, Salahuddin, Shantu and Mohsin who we would love to watch and follow. Now we don't have the players of same quality. That is why people got passionate for cricket instead.
“We still have to support football because we have a dream to play World Cup one day. So the people should watch the sport. If they don't support, the players would not be inspired. For this, football should also be reorganized and developed.
“I think there is less importance given to football. It shouldn't be like this. The authority should look on this matter and take initiatives to create demand for it.”
When the result of the dramatic Federation Cup final between Abahani and Mohammedan was informed to him, the Old Dhaka artist replied that if there are more matches like this, the fans would have a reason to go back to the stadium and watch their favorite team play.
