I went to the Emirates FA Cup Final at the weekend. Prior to the game, I requested neutral seats – in what I assumed was away from the throngs of rowdy Manchester United or Chelsea fans – in the more chilled out area behind the goals. 

As I took my seat, there were four vocal Manchester United fans in front of us and they wouldn’t sit down, despite requests from those around them.

And then the abuse began. 

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A lady, seated beside the rowdy group, kept getting knocked over, and the look of shock from ladies in front of them – as they hurled abuse at the players – will stay with me. Everyone surrounding the four seemed disgusted with their behaviour. 

Later on the train, a child had to be sheltered from four youths, as they jumped up and down banging the roof, shouting at the top of their lungs and taunting the opposing fans. 

Why such a big deal?

Though a fairly innocuous incident, it was the nature of their insults, the profanity, and the intimidation that was a worry.

Luckily the energetic highs that these intimidating fans were prone to – and the fact that their team didn’t produce the goods – meant they ran out of steam. 

This may come as a shock to some, but there was a blatant abuse of narcotics on public display. 

The aggression takes away from a spectacular occasion, and there’s an undercurrent of threatening behaviour that isn’t captured by the TV cameras. 

Families, elderly, or general understanding citizens feel uneasy when they are faced with such situations. 

This is all unnecessary. 

Incidents like this happen all the time, exposure has only risen because of social media

This happened outside the stadium in Manchester before the derby earlier this year

Gianni Infantino is clearing out the corruption of the Sepp Blatter era at FIFA, however, he is also looking to put his own stamp on football with the expansion of the FIFA World Club Championship. 

With a US$25bn backing from China, it would be a competitor to the UEFA Champions League, but on a global level. 

That would increase the likelihood of games taking place in Dubai. However, it would also mean that, along with these massive clubs, their fans come as well.  

Stadium rules can help, but they just play part of the role

Some people complained when the Autism Rocks Stadium announced it will be permanently operated as a dry venue – a move which I wholeheartedly support. 

The football stadiums don’t allow beer inside the stadium, although they do serve it in the venue. 

While outright bans may not be the answer, it’s the overall tolerance for this sort of behaviour that should not be accepted. 

Luckily it’s not in Dubai as a whole. Which is why, when people who live here travel elsewhere and see such behaviour, we are taken aback. 

I wonder what fans from the region will experience in Russia during the FIFA World Cup this summer. 

80,000 fans gathered at Wembley Stadium on a beautiful Saturday afternoon in London

This is a wonderful tournament.

 It has been sponsored by Emirates for the past couple of seasons, and association with such a prestigious tournament makes perfect sense. It is the oldest existing football tournament in the world, since the 1871-1872 season. 

Seeing the Emirates staff on the pitch before the game would make people from Dubai proud. 

And hopefully, we will have big football event in Dubai in years to come, however, let’s not tolerate any intimidation or fan violence that often goes unnoticed.