Nazia Ali claims False reporting by Duavata News

Bula FC’s Acting Chief Commercial Officer, Nazia Ali-Krishna, has publicly criticised a recent Duavata News report, claiming the outlet was “untrue” in its coverage of the Bula FC and Vanuatu United match held at Eden Park in Auckland.

The Duavata News article earlier reported that the stadium was “almost empty” during the match, drawing attention to the visibly low turnout relative to Eden Park’s 50,000-seat capacity, despite the competition being promoted by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) as a new professional league.

In response, Ali-Krishna disputed the report, stating that the description of the crowd was unfair. She said the report failed to properly acknowledge the supporters who turned up to back the teams.

“Whoever are the so-called journalists behind this page, I hope you can do better. The stadium was not empty, and anyone who was there would know that. At the very least, reporting should be factual. It’s disappointing to see an angle taken that is clearly untrue. This undermines the thousands of fans who turned up in support of Bula FC and Vanuatu United FC, and this feels unfairly dismissive of their presence. Sensationalism should not come at the expense of accuracy. That’s the basics of journalism that you’ve seemed to have forgotten,” Ali-Krishna said (verbatim).

Ali-Krishna, a former proposed candidate for the now deregistered FijiFirst Party, has been heavily involved with the Fiji Football Association (FFA) as a vice president.

However, Duavata News stands by its reporting.

At no point did Duavata News mean that the stadium was empty in the literal sense, a point we thought was plainly obvious. However, the 50,000-capacity Eden Park was “almost empty”, as stated.

Pictures and videos of the match clearly show that the entire far-side stand was almost empty, seating behind both goals was largely unoccupied, and upper-level sections were unused.

While it is acknowledged that fans were present and supporting both sides, the large majority of the stadium sections of Eden Park were visibly vacant throughout the match, a fact which we fairly highlighted. The FFA, and indeed the Oceania Football Confederation, should use this to help improve numbers and interest in the competition.

Given Eden Park’s capacity and the scale of the venue chosen for the fixture, the attendance appeared sparse by any reasonable assessment. The description of the stadium as “almost empty” was made in reference to the contrast between the size of the venue and the number of spectators present, not as a dismissal of supporters who attended. Majority of them were seated on the near side and may even have numbered a few thousand.

Duavata News maintains that it is fair and legitimate to question public engagement and attendance levels for a competition being marketed as a professional league, particularly when hosted at one of the largest stadiums in the region.

Attendance remains a key indicator of a match’s prestige and public interest, with high-demand events such as NBA games involving the Los Angeles Lakers or FIFA World Cup fixtures commanding scarce tickets, while poor attendance at OFC competitions underscores the ongoing challenge of building comparable appeal.

Duavata News has sent questions to the Fiji Football Association seeking clarification on attendance figures and venue selection.