The 1^st of September 2016 was a wake-up call for Maldivian football's ever declining home support when an international match between Maldives and Bangladesh in Male’ was outnumber by away fans. The day marked the formation of SaharaafalhiMV12 by a group of friends. The ultras group takes their name from the south terrace they occupy while the MV stands for Maldivian and the number 12 represent the fans.

The groups first game with planned and organized support was a qualification match for the world cup qualifiers group stage against Bhutan. Followed by a successful farewell for national goalkeeping legend Imran Mohamed upon his retirement from international football. Ever since SaharaafalhiMV12 has been present in every national game. Bring the Drums and the banner. Never ending chants for 90 minutes. The group now has over one thousand followers on Facebook and is actively involved on twitter.

The biggest issue SaharaafalhiMV12 faces is the difficulty in arranging materials in preparation for matches and arranging them hours ahead of the match as in many cases SaharaafalhiMV12 has been denied access to the stadium by the authorities.

With limited resources SaharaafalhiMV12 brings out the best they can for every game despite their best efforts the number of fans in the stadium has not improved with attendances in the hundreds during some national games it is a miserable record the group are desperate to get rid of and have the thousands fill up the stands once again.

SaharaafalhiMV12 stands where it is today thanks to a number of financial support from senior coaches and former national team players including Imran Mohamed and all the hard work of their members.

The home game against China caused uproar within the home support who were angered by the decision of the Ministry of Sports to close stands which caused a huge shortage in ticket supply.

Photo: ImagesMV