Premier League players like Chelsea’s Andriy Shevchenko (left) and Frank Lampard (right) are household names in Myanmar.

FOOTBALL is a favourite sport of the Myanmar people. Men, women and even children gather in front of the television when the Myanmar team plays international matches.

Foreign and international competitions like the Premier League, Champions League and World Cup also get a great deal of attention from Myanmar football lovers.

Tea shops, which broadcast football matches for free, become crowded with football fans when famous teams play.

Football’s impact can also be seen in the increasing number of weekly sports journals, which print the match results, news and fixtures. Because of the strong demand, there are about 20 weekly sport journals in Myanmar.

Internet café owner, 28-year old Ko Ye Khaung, said his clients, particularly men, frequently visit sports websites during the football season to check results and read about the star players.

These famous players become idols for the football-mad young men, who buy merchandise with their team logo and favourite player’s name and number.

Daw Sandar, 36, owner of the Sport World Trading, said football jerseys with the number of Cesc Fabregas, Christino Ronaldo and David Backham on the back have been popular this year.

“Children, some under 10 years old, buy them as a souvenir. But it is young men, from the age 13 and above, that are the main consumers of the soccer jersey with famous team logo,” she said.

“We have had more demand for the latest design of the player’s kits since the Champions League competition started in August because our customers want to wear the new style, it’s fashionable,” she said.

She said prices range from under K3000 to more than K10, 000.

Ko Than Htut Lin, a salesperson at Arkasar Padetha, said fans want to buy shirts with the number of football stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney.

He said customers can be of all ages. “A little boy, aged about four, came into the shop with his parents and said, ‘I want a Manchester [United] shirt,’ even though he doesn’t know much about the football,” he said.

“Young men, ranging in age from 13 and 20, are the main buyers of football shirts,” he said. “Some customers buy the shirts with their favourite players’ number even though the shirt is much too big for them, because they are so crazy about their favourite player.”

Ko Sein Lin, 28, supervisor of a game centre, said men aged between 16 and 35 liked to play the football video games.

Ko Sein Lin said that Rooney, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho are the most popular players.

“As for me, Ronaldo from Brazil is my favourite player because of his shooting skills and clean play – I haven’t seen him look angry in any matches he has played,” he said.

He said that the latest football video games have much more authentic human motions and are more popular with customers.

“Some young football fans are playing soccer video games for four of five hours a day,” he said.

The centre rewards its most dedicated players with prizes such as football shirts, which he said was popular with customers and good for business.