Exterior view of the Khalifa International Stadium in Al Rayyan near Doha. This is where Germany plays Japan next Wednesday Photo: picture alliance/dpa
From BZ/dpa
The anticipation of German fans for the World Cup in Qatar, which begins on Sunday, is still very clouded. This is the result of a representative survey of football fans conducted using the FanQ app.
More than half of those surveyed stated that they “didn’t watch a game at all” during the tournament. Only about one in ten plans to watch “most games”, a good 17 percent want to watch “only the Germany games”.
From November 20th to December 18th, 32 nations will play for the World Cup title in the emirate. The DFB team from coach Hansi Flick open their hunt for the fifth trophy on November 23 against Japan. For around 85 percent of the study participants, the anticipation for the tournament in the desert state is “much less” compared to previous world championships. Only a good two percent are more euphoric than in the past.
Many football fans expressed their dissatisfaction with the human rights situation Qatar and the time of the event in the German winter. More than two-thirds of the people stated that the period had a “negative” effect on their mood. Since the temperatures in Qatar are too high in the summer months, a World Cup will take place in winter for the first time.
The World Cup host has been criticized for years, primarily because of the poor human rights situation in the country. The government of the emirate largely rejects the allegations. In the German Bundesliga stadiums, fan posters have recently been seen calling for a boycott of the tournament. More than 90 percent of those questioned believe that the international attention generated by the World Cup will not lead to an improvement in the human rights situation.