Geometry boxes for football fans!

Chinese entrepreneurs seem to be targeting Qatar’s football fans in schools by launching a series of low-priced geometry boxes sporting the pictures of prominent English and Spanish clubs.With Qatar winning the 2022 World Cup bid, the Chinese are taking advantage of the football hysteria in the country, according to a dealer in school stationery supplies in Doha.A major stationery supplies outlet on the Airport road, which has four branches in Doha, says an increasing number of soccer fans, both Qatari and expatriate children, are buying up the geometry boxes. The shop’s shelves are packed with boxes named and designed after Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Real Madrid colours. The logo of each club is prominently displayed on the covers. “It is not only the schoolchildren who seem to be interested in them but there are several other youngsters too,” said a salesman at the stationery shop. A number of boxes are picked up by families going on vacation too, he said. The shop now has stocks of only boxes named after five teams. But the salesman said there were inquiries from some customers for boxes named after other popular European clubs.Marketed by a company from Lagos in Nigeria, the Chinese-made geometry boxes are also sought by soccer buffs, who seem keen to keep them as souvenirs. Interestingly, most customers were found to be asking for boxes of all the five teams and not just one or two. An official of the outlet said due to the good response the Chinese manufacturers are planning to launch several Qatar-focused school stationery items in the coming months.