WC 2011

The World Cup finals are two more weeks away. But football mania has already gripped Malappuram. The flags of 32 nations taking part in the World Cup football championship in Germany are fluttering across the district.

The World Cup has come at a good time for the youngsters of the district. Those who are heartbroken at the defeat of their parties in the Assembly elections have already taken recourse in football euphoria.

The demand for the World Cup flag has been on the rise as the days are being counted down for the June 9 kick off. Dozens of football lovers and fan clubs are approaching Lovely Hamza Haji who deals in flags of different shape and size.

Lovely Fancy, his shop in Malappuram, has already become a flag sale centre. The Haji buys polyester clothes in bulk and makes the flags at home. Often he struggles to meet the demand, especially when football-crazy clubs place bulk orders. A club manager from Areekode made an order for 300 flags of his choicest nations on Sunday.

The demand for the Argentina flag has been so much that sky-blue polyester cloth is in short supply here. Brazil is next in demand, followed by England, Germany, Italy and France.

"I use polyester because it will last, and the colours won't fade fast," says the Haji. But he says he is unable to meet the demand for jerseys, hairbands, photographs and wristbands of their favourite players and nations.

The cost varies according to the intricacy of the flag design. Some flags, like that of the U.S., Australia and Brazil, are difficult to make. "So I charge more for them," he says.

He has flags of different shape and size. A mini-flag of one-foot length costs Rs.10 and a 3x2 metre flag costs Rs.250. A Brazil flag of that size costs Rs.300. The Haji says the most difficult flag is that of Saudi Arabia because it has an Arabic calligraphy inscription on it. The simplest are that of Ukraine and Poland, because they have only two colours.

The Haji started his flag sale during the 2002 World Cup. Himself a football fan, the Haji had decorated his shop with miniature flags of World Cup nations four years ago. When people approached him for such flags, he saw the future of a seasonal market. His flags fluttered across the State during the Copa America championship two years later.