JEDDAH, 28 June 2006 — World Cup excitement has been brewing since the start of the tournament in the streets, shopping malls, bazaars and hubble-bubble cafes across Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
Emirates Airlines has launched a massive campaign and adopted the slogan “The world speaks one language — football”. In fact it seems that for the duration of the 2006 World Cup Saudis are only speaking soccer. Brazil’s match versus Ghana brought streets to a halt with Saudis dressed in their clean white thobes and headscarves piling into cafes to watch one of the world’s most popular and exciting teams battling it out.
A brief stroll through the bazaars in Jeddah reveals a lot about how serious soccer is taken by the people here. Stores selling soccer tops report a huge increase in sales with many Saudis donning the crests of their favorite teams.
Telling by all the green tops, it’s apparent that Saudis love their national team deeply. But, as expected, nobody in the Kingdom expected the men in green to make it to the end, and so Saudis prefer buying jerseys of favorites like Brazil, Germany and the UK.
Abu Ahmed, a salesman in his late thirties said, “Many fans come and buy soccer tops of their favorite national teams as soon as they are available in the markets. Others just wait for the World Cup to get underway and then buy tops of the best performing teams.” Salesmen in Tahlia Street say the Saudi soccer top is very popular. Other tops that have proven popular include the Brazilian, Dutch, Italian and Argentine tops.
Mohammed Mohammed, a salesman from downtown Jeddah, said fakes can be bought for SR35 and many people came to buy counterfeit Saudi tops made in China and Thailand. Licensed Saudi Arabian national team jerseys are selling for around SR179.
In addition, many Saudis opt to buy tops with the names of famous world-class players written on the back. Salesmen across the city say tops with the names of Ronaldinho, Messi and Shevchenko sell very well.
Faisal Al-Afif, supervisor at Zahid Trading and Real Estate Co., said that at their stores, where only original branded items are sold, the Saudi Arabian top has sold out. He said most people don’t care about paying the full amount. Al-Afif said that along with the FIFA World Cup people are striving to be part of the World Cup enthusiasm. Other World Cup memorabilia, such a notebooks, scarves, mugs, ashtrays, cups and mantelpiece ornaments are also very popular.
