Dhaka, June 7 – The excitement of Eid shopping for soccer lovers this time has increased as they flock to jersey shops to buy the jerseys of the teams they are supporting ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2018. In each World Cup, Bangladeshi football fans are seen to wear the jerseys of their favorite players, hoist flags of their favourite teams and this year the fun is going to be double as many are buying jerseys as part of their Eid shopping.
Though Bangladesh is not in the competition, the craze is no less here among the fans.
Ahead of the World Cup tournament, which will kick off in Russia on June 14 just before the Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims in the country, the wholesale and retail markets of jerseys in Dhaka go abuzz with football fans.
Among the customers, most are teenagers, college or university students. Children were also found visiting shops holding the hands of their parents to buy their favourite World Cup jerseys.
Dayed Hassan Milon, a Dhaka University student, who was looking for the jersey at Gulistan, said the fun of the game increases much more while watching the matches wearing favourite team’s jersey.
“I’ve been buying my favourite team’s jersey since my childhood and this year I completed my Eid shopping with the jersey,” he added.
Bulbul Ahmed, another Dhaka University student, said it has always been part of the World Cup celebration. This year the Eid shopping has become more special because of it.
While buying her jersey from New Market, Nabila Feroze said the heat of the coming tournament can be felt in the markets as the shops are decorated with flags of different competing countries.
“The excitement of Eid shopping has just increased to an extent having jerseys on the shopping list,” said the soccer fan.
While fans are busy buying jerseys and flags, sellers are also busy fulfilling the demand.
Nazmul Hossain, a salesman of a jersey shop at New Market, said this year the demand of jerseys are bit higher than the previous years due to the festive season.
Football lovers are visiting the shops looking for their desired jerseys. Many are buying both the versions of each team’s jersey, he added.
Though the jersey shops are in full gear, the price is also higher, claimed the customers.
Expressing satisfaction about jersey sale, Md Robin, another jersey seller of the new market said, “The response is more than that expected, people are visiting and buying jerseys a lot.”
The salesman agreed that the price is increasing and many of the buyers are returning without buying garment of their choices.
“The uniforms of two countries, Brazil and Argentina, are on the top of the sale. The jerseys of Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal are also in good demand,” he added. – UNB
