Asian Cup gives Australia’s Iranian fans a reason to go crazy

Sydney Morning Herald – SYDNEY, Iranian football fans are “crazy” about their national heroes and for the large community of expatriates living in Sydney, the Asian Cup is the perfect opportunity to watch the team play live.

“In Iran, everyone is obsessed with football, it’s like a religion,” football fan Shokufeh Kavani said. She has been following the team since she was a child in Iran and her passion has continued after moving to Australia in 1997.

Eight-year-old Sepand Shafazand said he loved watching Iran play in the World Cup last year and was excited to support his team against Qatar on January 15.

“I want to see them play well,” he said. “I’ve been playing [football] for two years and want to be on the [Iranian] team some day.”

Iran are the top ranked team in Asia ahead of the start of the tournament on January 9, and are ranked 51st in the FIFA world standings. They are in group C, along with Bahrain, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The Socceroos play the opening match of the Asian Cup against Kuwait in Melbourne. The teams are in group A with Korea Republic and Oman.

Sixteen countries are competing in the championship, with 32 matches being played in 23 days across five Australian cities: Sydney, Newcastle, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane.

PricewaterhouseCoopers have estimated Australia could benefit from a $23 million boost to the economy while hosting the Asian Cup.

Asian Cup Organising Committee CEO Michael Brown said organisers were expecting 500,000 fans to attend the matches, including about 50,000 international visitors.

Mr Brown said there were about 10,000 Iranian supporters.

Fans weren’t surprised by this figure. Amir Hatami and his six-year-old son Arian from Forestville are attending Iran’s matches in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and said he thinks Iran will have the second biggest fan base after the Socceroos.

Along with the estimated 800 million fans tuning in to watch the televised games, Layla Nafari from Crows Nest said her family and friends in Iran will be supporting from afar.

“When the team is fighting, we feel like we’re fighting,” she said.

Extra public transport services will run in Sydney for the seven matches being played at Stadium Australia.

Additional trains will also run between Central and Olympic Park on game days and for the finals later in the month.