Indian Super League has provided the perfect opportunity for football lovers in the city to demonstrate their support for their favourite teams and players.
A sweeping glance across the stadium will prove this to you. Last week, after the match between Chennaiyin FC and Atletico de Kolkata, where both teams fought neck-to-neck, the supporters left home elated. However, there were a bunch of boys who stayed back to attend to a self-assigned task.
There were members of the Arsenal Chennai Supporters Club, who assembled at the stadium and watched the match together. After it was over, they cleaned the stands.
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“We carry plastic bags with us and clean all the mess that is left behind. After the recent match, around 20 of us cleaned three blocks of the stadium,” says 25-year-old Karthik Deivarayan, a businessman.
This group was inspired by the Japenese football fans who cleaned the stadium during the Fifa World Cup this year.
“It was a noble initiative and we wanted to do something similar. With everyone participating in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, this was a perfect opportunity for us to promote cleanliness,” he says.
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Arsenal Chennai Supporters Club was started in 2011 with a few members and as the years passed by, their numbers swelled.
“We have members across Tamil Nadu. We first met at High On Caffeine café, which is now shut, in Adyar for the screening of the Arsenal matches. We have our Facebook Page and we have over thousand members now,” says Karthik.
Arsenal Chennai Supporters Club plans to continue cleaning the stadium for all the future matches that will be held at the stadium.