Bawling together in front of the big screen and toasting the next goal with a beer - this will probably not happen in Baden-Württemberg at the soccer World Cup this winter. And that's not just because of the cold season.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - Football fans in the south-west have to cheer on the World Cup in a small group: Many large cities in Baden-Württemberg are not planning any public broadcast of the football games from Qatar in November and December.
Mannheim, Freiburg and Ulm point out that private organizers initially did not apply for the corresponding use of public areas. Many places are also occupied by Christmas markets, a spokeswoman from Karlsruhe noted. According to the administration, no public viewings are usual in Baden-Baden and Stuttgart, regardless of the season and the controversial venue.
The city of Offenburg wants to set an example against Qatar as the venue. "As is well known, the human rights situation in Qatar is very problematic," the city said a few days ago.
There are also said to be only a few privately organized transmissions. Event manager Stefan Hamann wants to bring together up to 3,000 fans in the "Ballei" sports hall in Neckarsulm (Heilbronn district) from the final round onwards. His project is an exception. At the moment he doesn't know "anyone" who is planning something similar. For him, football is "Germany's favorite child" and he wants to preserve this cultural asset.
Restaurateurs are rather cautious this year. A tavern operator from Freiburg renounced because of the "human rights situation". The "Culture kicks Qatar" initiative of the "Zom Täle" pub in Urbach calls for a boycott of the broadcast. Instead, they focus on cultural events. "Many think it's good," said Lennard Volk, one of the founders of the initiative. According to the website, no other organizers have joined as of Friday.
