We were shaking our heads over the dismal turnout for the game between the Port Adelaide Power and the St. Kilda Saints played in Shanghai.
It would seem easy to fill a 20,000-capacity stadium in a country with a population of over one billion, but the venue was half-full, or half empty, if you are of the pessimistic perspective.
Now, we learn that busloads of spectators were dropped off at the wrong stadium.
It could have been a case of faulty GPS systems, or it could have been a breakdown of the Chinese sense of direction, as they have been disoriented by a certain fool imposing hefty tariffs on $US 300 billion of Chinese goods.
The official attendance for the game, which saw Port supply the Saints with more reason for martyrdom, was given as 9,142, down from the two matches from previous year’ down by about 12 buses’ worth.
Appearing on Fox Footy On the Couch, former Brisbane Lion player Jonathan Brown claimed that the crowd could have been as large as 20,000.
“It’s poor management by the organisers. “It was a sellout, but 10,000 people turned up to the wrong stadium because the buses that were carrying all the tourists and all the locals to the ground went to the wrong ground! And they didn’t make it to the ground!”
We hope the 10,000 missing are eventually relocated and the era in China, when such a mishap would have resulted in those people going missing permanently, has long passed.
Or so we hope.
Brown was speaking with Brownlow medallist Gerard Healy, who responded, perhaps with tongue firmly planted in cheek, “How many other AFL grounds are there in Shanghai?”
We would add our own question.
In a city with a population that exceeds the entire population of the country of Australia, would it not be possible to find Crazy Rich Asians loitering about to fill the stands?
