The competition has only completed three match days but the numbers are encouraging and have already surpassed the figures achieved in the last five years.

In the 44 matches played so far, more than 2,70,066 people have passed through the turnstiles to clock an average of 6,137 fans per match.

This number is just 304 spectators behind the 2004 average of 6,441 after 62 matches.

Last year there were a total of 117 games watched by an average of 4,757 fans.

A record 20,000 people turned up to watch Sriwijaya’s 1-0 victory Vietnamese outfit Binh Duong on March 24 in Palembang, Indonesia, while 16,000 left disappointed after Uzbekistan’s Nasaf lost 2-1 to Kuwait’s Kazma a day earlier.

Da Nang’s 3-0 victory over Tai Po was witnessed by 15,000 people on Wednesday and this number was matched by Syria’s Al Ittihad when they beat Lebanon’s Al Nejmeh 4-2 in Aleppo.