Various reasons for underwhelming attendance in Sylhet
In 2014, the football-crazy people of Sylhet broke through the main gate and thronged the Sylhet District Stadium touchline, forcing the organisers to start the match between Bangladesh U-23 and Nepal U-23 an hour later than the scheduled time.
Nine years later, the scenes have changed drastically, with only a few hundred spectators turning up at the 17,000-capacity stadium on Saturday to watch the FIFA friendly between Bangladesh and Seychelles after the men in red and green returned to the city for a friendly game after a year since hosting Mongolia at the venue.
Be it cricket or football, Sylhet has a reputation for its sports-loving people who always turn up during international matches. However, like today, the recently-concluded ODI series between Bangladesh and Ireland was also played in front of a sparse crowd.
The local organisers said the low turn out was because of the holy month of Ramadan while some spectators pinned the blame on poor publicity of FIFA friendly matches in the country.
"You know, the people of Sylhet are very religious. It is tough for them to watch a match live while fasting because the match is being held in the afternoon," said Sylhet District Association general secretary Mahi Uddin Ahmed Selim ahead of the start of the game.
"Most of the football spectators come from upazila levels but they may not turn up as they are probably fasting during the month of Ramadan," said Selim, adding that usually nearly 1000 spectators on average watch the Sylhet Premier Division Football League matches.
"I think there is no shortage of spectators in Sylhet but the timing of the FIFA friendly match is not right because people are fasting," said Sylhet District Football Association secretary Dipal Kumar. "If you look back, the stadium was almost packed with spectators during the FIFA friendly match between Bangladesh and Mongolia last year."
About the low turn out during the Bangladesh and Ireland cricket series, Sylhet Cricket Association secretary Takvirul Kabi said: "There were many spectators during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). There were also a good number of spectators during the ODI series between Bangladesh and Ireland. However, spectators might turn up a bit less than usual because the opponent may be thought of as a weaker opponent."
Ahmedur Rahman came to catch the match live despite fasting after getting a complimentary ticket from a relative, but Mamun Hossain, a member of the Border Guard Bangladesh, bought the tickets for himself and his younger brother because of their love towards the sport.
"If anyone loves football, he must come to watch the match. I came here after overcoming some barriers," said Mamun, adding that he would return to his barrack to break his fast.
Medical students Muntasir Zisan and Nurshed Alam turned up to catch a glimpse of their favourite booters.
"The international match is being held after a long time in Sylhet. Besides, I like Eleta Kingsley and Anisur Rahman Zico and came here to watch their performance," said Zisan.
"I have come here to watch the performance of Zico and Mohammad Ibrahim because both of the players are from my locality – Cox's Bazar. As our exam finished yesterday, we came to watch the match," said Alam, adding that they came to know about the FIFA friendly match today as there was no publicity about the match.