Fans looking for jerseys, hats or even a replica of the cute desert rat mascots from the Asian Cup are likely to leave Qatar empty-handed.

No such items are being sold at Asia’s premier tournament, nothing at the stadiums or even at the Asian Cup stands in the city’s glitzy malls.

Unlike other tournaments like the World Cup or even the 2007 Asian Cup, organizers made no arrangements to sell merchandise — though they gave away hats, jerseys and other memorabilia to the media, volunteers and visiting dignitaries during the tournament that ends on Saturday.

Fans, however, can buy plenty of souvenirs celebrating Qatar — maroon and white scarves, flags and even a replica of the gold World Cup trophy in honor of its hosting the 2022 World Cup. There are also photos on sale of the Al Thani family which rules the country, and a scarf featuring portraits of its leader Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar.

Local organizers say they failed to convince World Sports Group — the marketing and media partner of the Asian Football Confederation — to sell souvenirs.

“It doesn’t look nice without merchandise,” said Jassim al-Rumaihi, operations director at the tournament. “But it wasn’t in our control. We tried to convince WSG to have merchandise but they are still having strict regulations on this.”

The WSG has so far refused to comment. But AFC Competitions director Tokuaki Suzuki said a meeting with the Qatar organizing committee and WSG was convened over the issue on Tuesday but produced no breakthroughs.

Suzuki said the WSG, which has the rights to sell merchandise, told the AFC that it couldn’t reach an agreement on sales with Qatar ahead of the tournament, and also that it didn’t feel there was much of a market for souvenirs at the competition which struggled in the early stages with poor attendance.

Suzuki dismissed concerns over the lack of merchandise, insisting the matches themselves and the publicity around the tournament was more than enough for spectators.

“The fans can enjoy the matches. There are so many sponsorship activities and publicity about the tournament,” he said. “We respect the decision made by the World Sports Group and QLOC (Qatar Local Organizing Committee.) So it’s OK for us that they are not selling merchandise.”

Source: bostonherald.com

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