Indian Brazilian football fans in Qatar.
Photo Credits: The Goan
DOHA, QATAR
Reggie is a die-hard Brazilian football fan. He loves all things Brazilian. He loves to hear the beats of Samba music and will break into a dance at the drop of the hand. He wears the Brazil jersey with all pride.
The Neymar fan has not been to Brazil and is neither a Brazilian citizen. He has not been to any of the previous World Cups and is looking forward to this year’s football fiesta in Qatar. The Indian-born hails from Kochi city, formerly known as Kochin, a well-known port of call to many navigators including the great Vasco da Gama.
Kochin like Brazil was a former Portuguese colony, for a brief period, and changed hands with quite a few other European powers from the Dutch to the English, which reflects in the architecture in the seaside Fort Kochi. Quite a few Fort Kochi residents in the present day period speak the Portuguese language and trace their ancestry to the Iberian country. But Reggie says he has nothing to do with Portugal and does not speak Portuguese, a language spoken in both Portugal and Brazil.
He says his love for Brazilian football runs deep in his heart, which connects him to the South American country and language is certainly not a barrier to his binding affection for all things Brazilian. “Yes, I am looking forward to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, which incidentally will be the first World Cup which I will watch from the stands, all the other World Cups were followed by watching the action from TV,” said the long-time Qatar resident.
The small-time football promoter from Kochi is looking forward to networking with other Brazilian fans based in Qatar so that the Brazilian fire power in the stands is more vocal and has a more local look. “We (Indian Brazilian fans in Qatar) are trying to set up a meeting with the Brazilian embassy in Qatar in the coming weeks. We want to help the Brazilian fans coming to Qatar and make their stay during the matches and after the matches a memorable one and help them in whatever way possible,” who says as far as memory goes he has not supported any other country at the quadrennial football fiesta except Seleção Canarinho.
Reggie is not the lone Indian Brazilian fan based in Qatar, who is looking forward to the kick off in November. A large number of Brazilian fans mainly from the Indian state of Kerala were in full force during the 150 days’ countdown of the World Cup which took place a couple of weeks back.
The 150 days’ countdown happened on the sidelines of the semifinals of the tournament organized by Qatar India Association (QIA), a social, cultural and sports body comprising mostly of Indians hailing from Kerala.
QIA on their part has been promoting the World Cup among different nationalities based in Qatar and in a bid to attract diverse crowds they had a competition for fans to turn out in the national colours of the teams which have qualified for the 2022 World Cup. “Wear a national jersey of any FWC22 playing team and three lucky winners will get Amazfit T Rex Pro smart watches.,” read the promo ahead of the 150 days’ countdown.
Speaking about the 150 days’ countdown president of QIA, EP Abdul Rahman said: “It was a nice atmosphere to see fans of Argentina, Brazil, Portugal and other different World Cup playing countries at the stadium during the tournament in their favourite country’s jersey and flags.”
The curtains came down on the QIA tournament on Friday July 1 in a grand finale with music and cultural programs taking centre stage along with the football with City Exchange FC beating Islamic Exchange Mates Qatar 3-1 in the final of the City Exchange Transfast QIA Champions League 2022, with th4e winners collecting QR15,000 and the runners up QR10,000.
The tournament began on June 2 was played every weekend in which 8 prominent Indian community teams battled for the prestigious trophy. The teams featured the best footballing figures here in Doha and also from India. The two star studded teams featured players like Jijo Jospeh (Captain - Kerala Santosh Trophy Team), Jithin MS (former I-League player - Gokulam Kerala), Christy Davis, Antony Poulose, Akhil Jayachandran, Sandeep Soman, Noufal Puthenveettil, Bujair Valiyattu, Fasalurahman M and Rishad P P.
The Qatar 2022 legacy ambassadors, Ibrahim Khalfan, Ahmad Khalil and Mohammed Saadon Al Kuwari were the chief guests of the evening. Enjoying the most, they reached out to the fans and kicked out hundreds of autographed Qatar 2022 branded footballs to the fans as a part of the celebration. Other prominent guests included Dr Mohan Atla, Defense Attache, Embassy of India, Aaron Vaz, Qatar Legacy Ambassadors’ Team, Vishnu Murali for Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Tunisian community leader Abdul Basit, representatives from the Ministry of Interior and Stadium Security along with Indian apex body presidents and community leaders.
