The Roar
The Roar

John Duerden

Expert

Joined October 2015

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Nobody really knows to be honest. I think it is more accurate to say that K-League crowds are very inconsistent than uniformly bad. Euro-snobbery, though perhaps not quite the same as the Australian version, does play a part.

Think the A-League has problems? That's cute

Dean.
In football terms, it’s harsh to say Thailand and Malaysia are 2nd/3rd world. The game there is embedded in the culture in a way that it is not in Australia and also Korea.

And you do see flares at K-League games, though less these days. The first game I took my wife to, we had to move because of them.

Think the A-League has problems? That's cute

They were great. What a fantastic journey.

How bad are the FFA?

Hi Ben from Phnom Penh. Thanks and good questions! Not sure what the FFA can do as an organisation in Indonesia at the moment. Things are such a mess. I did write an article recently though that as the league there is cancelled and the country banned, local players aren’t playing and aren’t getting paid. Something that individual clubs could have kept an eye on.

As to the second question, we can only hope but, again, this is a mess in many countries -the list is depressingly long. As you say, there is a reluctance to change. Indonesia’s government almost seemed proud of the FIFA ban while Kuwait seem to see theirs as part of an international conspiracy. Many people who run football in Asia are long accustomed to getting their own way. At least now, media in some of these countries have seen what has happened on a global scale with FIFA and are starting to realise that they can actually make a difference. Have seen this a little in Pakistan and Nepal of late. This is encouraging.

Wellington Phoenix are an Oceaniac problem in Asian football

Good to hear that I had a bonafide Aussie football experience!

Do we really fear fans, flares and football?

Thanks! Was fun to write this but a bit of an easy target really.

Do we really fear fans, flares and football?

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