JEDDAH, 10 June 2006 — Perhaps not surprisingly, Jeddah’s sports fans were planted firmly in front of television screens yesterday as the World Cup 2006 kicked off in Germany.
Instead of the usual Friday scene of Saudi youths kicking a ball around on Jeddah’s Corniche, the beachfront seemed unusually empty of these young men. This emptiness will probably play out through the course of the world’s most popular sporting event, especially on Wednesday when the Saudi national team takes to the pitch against Tunisia.
At Jeddah’s Kai sports café, football fan Yousif Jamil said that watching the matches in a public establishment has a different ambiance than watching them at home, a little more like watching them in the stadium with other people.
“Many people prefer to watch matches in the comfort of their homes,” he said, “but in cafés at least there are cheering football fans and you feel the enthusiasm.”
Café owners are hoping that more folks like Jamil feel the same way, but, if this is the case, they didn’t show up in great numbers for the World Cup kick off.
“Today is a normal day, not as we expected it to be. We thought the café would be full of cheering fans enjoying the opening games,” said Hussein Bu Hajar, an employee at Kai sport café. He said only 17 customers showed up for the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica, or about 30 percent of the café’s capacity. Bu Hajar didn’t give up hope, though.
Some café owners have bought new large plasma screen sets in honor of the World Cup, expecting to sell more cups of tea and shisha “bubblies” through July 9.
“It’s the first match. Things will pick up later,” he said. “We expect huge turn out by fans to watch the Saudi Arabian matches. Saudi fans and café customers want to save their money and enjoy watching Brazil matches in cafés.”
Some café aren’t helping attract football fans by charging covers for entry, up to SR120, especially when just about anyone who has a deep love for the game is likely to have (or to know somebody who knows somebody who has) ART, the subscription cable channel showing the World Cup in the Middle East. Some café workers are speculating that football fans are saving up for important matches before paying to view them in public establishments.
Osama Bahaj, owner of ROSE Café, said that his establishment was only half full with people watching the brief opening ceremony of the World Cup. “I expect more people to come for Arab matches. This day is normal because I expect that not many people don’t have a particular interested in today’s matches,” said Bahaj, who estimated that his daily sales would double during the quarterfinals that start June 30.
