Nothing much to celebrate

The league leaders are within sniffing distance of league title. Their nearest rivals Maziya is yawning 14 points away.The best team by miles, New Radiant needs two points to make it two in a row. With addition of new players, for upcoming quarter finals of AFC Cup, they are going to get better and better. But are New Radiant supporters jumping with joy because they are winning the league?

For the many supporters, there is nothing to be happy about. You don't go to stadium just to see your team win three points. You want a good sporting contest, hard-fought battles and competitive fixtures over the course of 90 minutes of drama which climaxes in goals. Dhivehi league as a competitive tournament is far from that. In fact, the first match of the league opened on an anti-climax. The 10-1 win over VB Addu FC confirmed that this was going to be yet another one team show. Since then Valencia, BG Sports, AYL, Eagles, Victory and VB Addu FC had been nothing more than pushovers in a one-team dominated contest.

Strangely Maziya, after the first round exit from AFC Cup, hasn't been the same. New Radiant could have been on auto pilot and still won. But this is not worth the money and time football lovers have invested on the league. They did not ask for a league so lopsided with the huge disparity among the teams that you could not sit through the games without stifling a yawn.

Rewind to the days of mid-90s, the days of Lachchays, Sayas and Kuda Heenas. There was a level-playing field for the teams to compete, no one-sided match. People could enjoy the proceedings without thinking 'why did I come here to see this match, wasting time and money?' There was nothing to grieve about. In fact they could hardly wait for the afternoon fiesta.

They would find time whichever way possible for 4:00-6:00 time slot. Hours before kick-off, an anticipatory excitement is writ large on the face of spectators marching towards the kiosks selling tickets. Majeedhee Magu and all the artery roads leading to the stadium starts to clog with football lovers teeming out of every nook and every cranny. Long, serpentine queues make its way at every entrance to the stadium.

People who had started milling around the stadium long before 2:30 pm would gradually form groups with the familiar and known friends to offer their opinion about the match on anyone ready to listen, adding to the atmosphere building up outside. Tickets changing hands in the black market is not an unusual phenomenon. For the office-goers who finish late, they find it a convenient time-saver and the tickets priced at MRF 5 is worth even if it goes 10 or 20.

By the time match kick off it is usually a full house, lending a feverish pitch to the proceeding on the ground. Whether it is Valencia and New Radiant, Victory or Huriyya or an emerging club composed of budding talents, they embark on a journey of ticket-worthy spectacle. No one-sided games as you see today.

Supporters are in a playful mood, some as usual nervously fidgeting their fingers. Winning a match is, of course the most important thing, but it is also the 90 minutes which make up your day, what you relish most. As soon as a goal is scored a wild celebratory carnival descends on the stands, a certain sections of crowd leaps into the air in unison, a deafening roar erupts, stadium almost creaking at its foundation. The jubilant supporters barely contain themselves.

The breathless atmosphere, the energy and excitement is palpable on the face of supporters continue long after the goal. Perhaps two or three guys remove their shirts and twirl overhead in the frenzy. Do we see that mesmerising spectacle today? Maldivians may be quiet by nature but in the stadium, when there is a potent cocktails of competitive football and a blood-cuddling rivalries nothing can stop them. In such moments of joy, we bring to the fore what football means to us.

Today a sprinkling of spectators in the 10,000-strong capacity stadium makes way for the exit even before the final whistle. Unsurprisingly New Radiant's traditional stand is suffering from the same disease, despite winning each match.They know their captain will soon lift the trophy aloft. But they wear a mask of indifference. If anything, boredom is largely written on their face. What is there to celebrate when you know, talent-wise there is huge difference between your team and the rest? For them the thrill of winning has long gone.