In an effort to figure out why attendance at football games in Qatar is so low – and to help devise a plan to bring fans back to the stadium – a group of local organizations are seeking public feedback on the matter through a newly launched survey.

The survey, “A Poll on the reasons behind the audience reluctance to attend football matches,” is a collaboration between the Ministry of Development Planning & Statistics (formerly called the Qatar Statistics Authority), Qatar Football Association and the Sports Statistics Technical Committee, and went up last week.

In the short questionnaire, residents are asked to identify the key reasons that prevents them from attending stadium matches. The survey offers several possible answers, including:

• Personal reasons (not interested, no time, stadiums not conducive to receive women, family objection)
• Organizational reasons (matches scheduled on the weekdays, stadiums too far, traffic jams near stadium, too noisy, smoking/indecent expressions a turnoff)
• Technical reasons (lack of “local stars,” favorite team not doing well, not tournament time, lack of confidence among fans and coaching staff, referee’s level is “low”)
• Service reasons (uncomfortable seats, lack of facilities like mosques, parking, restaurants), lack of transport to/from stadium, arbitrary security procedures)
• Climate reasons (too hot/windy/dusty/etc);
• Audience-related reasons (not enough fans, “rented fans” problem, no relationship with club and audience); and
• Media-related reasons (modern technology, ability to watch it on TV, and listen to commenters reduces desire to go to the stadium).

The survey will close in two weeks, around Dec. 8.

In a statement, QSA writes:

“The poll, targeting the audience different orientations and desires, will enable the decision makers to furnish the suitable solutions in order to encourage the audience to return to the stadiums.”

Do you attend football matches regularly here? Why or why not?