MALDIVES

Having tucked away Mauritius recently I saw an advertisement for a holiday in the Maldives. I didn't think there would much of a call for footy on the islands but sure enough there is an FA, the international team is called the Red Snappers and the national team is ranked 150th in FIFA.

There are two club divisions that include the Dhivehi Premier League which uses one stadium that holds nearly 12,000 spectators. The season is between August and May when 8 Premier League teams end up playing each other twice. There is relegation to and promotion from the Second division. In 2018 the leagues will expand to 10 clubs each.

The national team plays mainly in the South Asia Football Federation Gold Cup. They meet Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and the like generally finding themselves in a semi-final game or in the final, so their general standard is high.

In 1979 their first international match was against the Seychelles losing 0-9. They then beat Mongolia in Male 12-0 in 2003 their highest score and and in 1997 Iran inflicted a 17-0 defeat on the Snappers.

Darren Stewart is head coach and his career was spent mainly in Newcastle, New South Wales and he has been in charge since 2016.

Made up from around 1190 atolls (coral islands) in the Indian Ocean, the population is around 1/3 million. Tourism is a major earner, as is fishing of course.