It´s only been four days of tournament play and the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016 has already produced its first landmark: the most attended game for these competitions since the AFC U-16 Championship Uzbekistan 2010. Last night´s thriller between India and Saudi Arabia was witnessed by 4,137 spectators, which broke the records of a single match attendance from the 2012 (Iran) and 2014 (Thailand) editions.
A total of 3850 spectators watched the 2012 edition’s quarter-final between hosts Iran and Australia on September 30, 2012, at the PAS Stadium in Tehran while 2000 spectators turned up for opening and final matches of the 2014 edition in Bangkok, Thailand. The Group A opener on September 6, 2014, between hosts Thailand and Malaysia at the Muangthong Stadium and the final between DPR Korea and Korea Republic on September 20, 2014 at the Rajamangala Stadium attracted 2000 spectators each.
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The mark set in Fatorda was only toppled when a capacity crowd of 35,000 watched the 2010 edition final between hosts Uzbekistan and DPR Korea at the Pakhtakor Stadium on November 7, 2010.
The attendance to the matches in the current tourney saw a big increase throughout the weekend, as even the Uzbekistan-Thailand game in GMC Bambolim on Saturday night attracted 1,320 spectators as well, making it almost 5,500 fans over the weekend.
LOC Tournament Director for the AFC U-16 Championship India 2016, Javier Ceppi, commented about this historic landmark, “Our aim has always been to try to get families and the youth to the stadiums and the crowd last night in PJN Fatorda was a reflection of it. This goes to show that all the work to promote the game along with the Government of Goa and the educational ecosystem in the State has paid off and we now expect an even larger number for the decider between India and IR Iran on Wednesday.”
The Indian coach, Nicolai Adam, has been vocal about the importance of home support “The atmosphere in the stadium for the game versus Saudi Arabia was fantastic and it lifted our boys to keep fighting until the end. For the game against Iran on Wednesday we want to see a full stadium that would give our boys a lot of motivation. The team needs the full support of all Goans on Wednesday.“
The General Secretary of the All India Football Federation, Kushal Das, too hailed the excellent effort put up by the Indian juniors and said that every effort would be made to get the maximum support for the team for their remaining league matches and the rest of the tournament. “We are going all out to promote the games; from promotions over local Radio Channels to handing out tickets in public places, the LOC is leaving no stone unturned to attract more and more people to the games,” he said.
The tickets for the India versus IR Iran match, to be played in PJN Fatorda on Wednesday 21st at 7pm, will be available for pickup at the “get2thegames” box office in the Swimming Complex of PJN Fatorda until 2 PM of Wednesday. At the stadium, all fans carrying a valid government id will also be granted access.
