Entertaining ... The Afghan Premier League has provided some unusual spectacles - on and off the field. Source: AFP
An Afghan radio reporter tried to interview a football player on the side of the pitch - but the game was still ongoing and the player still playing.
He thought it would add to the "effects and colour'' of the reporting, he apparently said later.
The league's media manager had to explain why that was a bad idea.
In reply, the reporter explained he had done interviews in a similar fashion in the past.
That incident was just one example of some of the absurdities at the Afghan Premier League football championship that has been going on for the past month.
Thousands of spectators have poured in to the newly built stadium in the Afghan capital as eight teams vie for the top prize of $US15,000 ($A14,500).
Eight teams participated in the highly-anticipated league with players chosen from across the eight regions of the country on Maidan-e-Sabz (Green Ground), a reality TV show.
The selected players were brought to Kabul from their respective regions for some training in preparation of the league. The final game was played on Friday.
The league provided a welcome relief for a country where violence and suicide attacks are a daily occurrence, and forms of entertainment are limited to a few parks and television viewing.
The well-executed tournament gave very little room to complain.
Except for a brief scuffle on the first day of the league that involved water-hoses and rifle butts, partly due to an over-enthusiastic crowd, there were no security incidents.
For each game, eager fans arrived well prepared with their banners, mega-phones and Afghan flags.
"The charm of the organisers, the fan fever of the audience, and the vibrant display of athleticism by the players, all added to the awesome experience of the Afghan premier league,'' said Zubair Sediqi, a 24-year old university student who had attended six games.
While the games were highly entertaining, so were some of the other happenings.
On a daily basis, cash was distributed after each game at the ground.
Respective strongmen from the region - businessmen, powerbrokers, politicians, and tribal elders tried to outdo each other with the "baksis'' (gift) as they less than subtly divvied cash to players by hand. From the sidelines it appeared most were 100 dollar bills.
In some cases, the teary-eyed players of the losing team, like Maiwand Atalan from the south received the cash while the winning team from the northwest, Simorg Alborz went home grinning but empty-handed.
Similarly, in one of the early matches, after the referee blew his whistle to signal halftime, a large number of people, possibly coming together from the same area, left the stadium, thinking the game was over.
"They did not know the professional football match is played in two halves,'' one photographer said.
Upon realising there was still a whole second half left to cheer; they returned only to be stopped by the guards who asked to see new tickets.
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