A South Korean baseball club has invented a novel way to improve the atmosphere at sparsely attended matches: by filling the stands with robot fans that can cheer, chant and perform a Mexican wave.

Supporters of Hanwha Eagles can book a robot, download their face onto it and control its movements. But will they be able to send it for a pie at half time?

This could be seen as a progression from the Arsenal FC experiment in the 1990s. During re-development, a giant mural of fans was placed behind the goal at the North Bank so that it looked as if teams were playing before a full house.

Of course, they didn’t shout much, and they never went for a pie, either.

That was cosmetic but the robots could be a source of revenue.

And wait, there’s more.

When the Japanese were bidding for the 2022 World Cup, they said that by the time it came round, they hoped to be able to recreate live matches in other locations as holograms.

This would mean that several stadiums could all watch the same match at the same time.

This could be brilliant for clubs whose matches are permanently sold out and have long waiting lists for season tickets and, having tried robots, discovered a fall in pie sales. Manchester United, the biggest club in the world, could have stadiums all over the world.

Unfortunately, Japan lost out in their World Cup bid.

Qatar controversially won the right to stage the tournament in temperatures above 40 degrees Centigrade , which is more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Allegations of delegate corruption or insanity are still being considered.

Hologram games could be the answer.

The matches could be held in a country with temperate conditions, such as Japan, and beamed into stadiums in Qatar as holograms. The drawback is that fans might prefer the more democratic laws of Japan, regarding drinking, personal freedom, equality and sexuality, rather than go to the extremely conservative oil and gas rich emirate.

No problem. Fit the over-heated desert stadiums with robots and painted murals, add the sound of crowds cheering andeverybody, players included, will be happy.

Except perhaps the Qatari gentleman with the pie concession.