A lot of people who love football hope to see the National Stadium full again. In fact even our President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih spoke of this. However after the poor performances in Indian Ocean Island Games and World Cup Qualifiers a lot of people are asking questions. Some even went as far as saying that the National Stadium should be developed as parking area.

As a youngster from 'Raajjethere'. I see the FA trying to keep afloat bunch of clubs who have failed to draw in crowds in the last ten years. Only time I saw a filled stadium is when Thimarafushi beat Foakaidhoo to win the Minivan Championships in 2018. And as a reward Thimarafushi has been relegated after round one of the Premier League. Relegation after round one! Really?

Since the introduction of Minivan Championship teams into the Premier League, Minivan Championship sides have drawn more people than any Male' club in the league. Infact if I am not mistaken Maalhos supporters won special recognition by the FA in the Maldives Football Awards in 2017. They never made it to the next Premier League. Last season, Fehendhoo were the loudest bunch. They were relegated after first round too. Relegation after one round is strange indeed. Specially when in Male' even if you finish at the bottom you get a relegation play-off.

In 2017, Thinadhoo finished fourth in the Premier League. Ali Suzain's side disappointed big names in Maldivian football that season. However they never even participated in the 2018. To finish fourth and returning to the Minivan Championship is hardly the motivation 'Rajjethere' teams need!

If given equal opportunity, Minivan Championship sides will not only draw better crowds, we will slowly start taking over all the attention, specially if we play Home-Away format. But first we need stability. No relegation after first round. Equal opportunities as Male' Clubs. And Home-Away at the earliest time possible. Then watch the stands fill.

Proof is this year's Charity Shield. Without any marketing Foakaidhoo drew crowds that would shame the Premier League teams. Imagine what it would do the community of Foakaidhoo with proper marketing. Not only about football, it's a lifestyle. It's development. It can only happen by not mistreating the 'Raajjethere' clubs. Because frankly that's where the support for Maldive football is!

To regain the support we also need our national team to start warming up the home crowd. This will be difficult with Petar Segrt. The man has no respect for Maldivian football. He's taking the Football Association down with him. We need the support of the people. Without the fans we can only expect Maldivian football to sink lower. 

How can we have a madman in-charge of our national team? Either that or he is a compulsive liar(www.maldivesoccer.com has few videos from his press conferences proving this). His arrogance by constantly mistreating our stars and picking youngsters to gain time for himself has taken a toll on Maldivian football. For football to gain any legitimacy our National Team needs to start performing now. Then we will see some hope. 

From: Raajjetherey Meehaa (via gmail)

(The content of this is from our readers, we do not necessarily agree or disagree with its contents- the readers may mail to this column at [email protected] or message our Facebook page. You may mail us in essay form or in point form, we will write it for you if it is more than 300 words we will post in this column)

Photo: ImagesMV