Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Ramadan 17, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Juventus fan club makes a mark in Oman

1426821
1426821
minus
plus

Text by Ali Abdullah Al Jahwari -

MUSCAT, JAN 29 -


With two Uefa Champions League titles and a collection of 35 Serie A trophies, including eight in a row from 2012-2019, Juventus FC is a global football brand on its own.


The Sultanate of Oman loves its football and the Italian giants have a huge fanbase here. Juventus Club Oman Bianconera is one of the officially recognised Juventus fan clubs in Oman, the other being Juventus Fan Club Oman.


Khalid al Harthi, head of JFC Oman Bianconera, threw some light on the genesis of the Juventus Club Oman Bianconera.


“We started our fan club in an online website in 2008 and we were only five people. Next, we started working on the official recognition by Juventus so we started increasing the number of the members and sending official requests to the Italian club. With more than 35 members, the fan club got recognised and approved from Italy in 2011.”


The Juventus Club Oman Bianconera had the great privilege of meeting couple of Juventus legends Alessandro Del Piero and Edgar Davids. The club members presented them with Omani souvenirs and graced them with fine Omani hospitality.


“The fan club has plenty of achievements in sports and social activities. We have met and handed a souvenir to Giuseppe Marotta during our trip to watch the Italian Super Final Match against AC Milan in Qatar, when he was the CEO of the Juventus back then before moving to Inter Milan which is the direct rival for Juventus this season.” Al Harthi added.


The fan club also gathers more than 60 members to donate blood to hospitals and blood donation centres annually because they consider themselves as something more than football fans but a vital community to serve the Omani society. “Our fan club has a media sponsor which is Toofa that is officially approved by the Oman Football Association as a sports online newspaper. This makes us the first fan club with a media sponsorship in Oman,” Khalid mentioned.


Ali al Fathi, Secretary of JFC Oman Bianconera, adds, “Currently, the club has 200 members and around 90 of them carry the official Juventus FC membership cards from Italy. We have several activities for our members such as watching Juventus matches in different unique avenues and conducting a football championship for them. We also have some online competitions, the Score Prediction Competition and the Ramadhan Cultural Competition are always exciting for the members.”


Al Fathi also spoke about the obvious huge impact that Cristiano Ronaldo was able to make to the Juventus fan base when he signed on with them from Real Madrid.


“Arrival of Ronaldo boosted the Juventus fan base and increased the club’s social media accounts so he had his personal influence shown on the club. He won the Serie A Player of the Year award in his first season with Juventus and he was spectacular this season with 31 goals and in scoring at 8 consecutive matches in the league. As fans of Juventus, we are pleased to have such an iconic football symbol in our team that is so effective and productive inside and outside the football field.’’


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon