Enlarge image
Test match of the DFB-Elf in Oman: In Germany, the rejection of the World Cup in Qatar is great
Photo: Markus Ulmer / Ulmer/ team photo / IMAGO
A large majority of Germans have no plans to watch the football World Cup games in Qatar live on TV.
The lack of interest has to do with the host country and the criticism of the human rights situation in the emirate - but at the same time enthusiasm for the men's national team has clearly waned.
This is the result of a recent survey by the online survey company Civey for SPIEGEL.
Accordingly, 70 percent of those surveyed stated that they did not want to follow the World Cup games live.
The trend is clear: Compared to the World Cup in Russia, 77 percent of those surveyed stated that their interest had dropped - 63 percent even said "definitely".
On the other hand, only two percent said that their interest in the tournament had increased.
However, only in the course of the tournament will it become clear what the TV behavior of the German population will actually look like.
With the success of the German national team, interest could increase, the World Cup starts next Sunday with the opening game Qatar against Ecuador.
The DFB team will play their first group match against Japan on November 23rd.
The test match against Oman last Wednesday was watched by an average of 4.26 million viewers on RTL - a disappointing figure given a market share of 19.3 percent.
The reasons for the general decline in football enthusiasm are different.
Above all, there are the special circumstances surrounding this World Cup in Qatar: the most frequently cited reason, at 57 percent, for not following the tournament is the human rights situation in the emirate.
The Gulf state is particularly criticized for its treatment of migrant workers, who often have to work under conditions that are hazardous to their health, for example for the infrastructure of the World Cup.
Episode three of the podcast »Ausverkauft« by SPIEGEL and Spotify provides background information on the deaths on the World Cup construction sites.
The fact that the tournament is held in winter (28 percent) and the lack of football tradition in Qatar (24 percent) are also reasons for some of those surveyed not to be interested in the World Cup.
But the Germans are also motivated by reasons beyond the host country: While 51 percent report a general lack of interest in football, 52 percent criticize the progressive commercialization of the sport.
The general interest in the German men's national soccer team is correspondingly low: 23 percent of those surveyed said they had little interest in the DFB team, and 55 percent had no interest at all.
In 66 percent of the cases, the interest in the team, which no longer wants to be called that, has recently tended to or clearly declined.
The most important reason: the commercialization of the team, which was too much for 72 percent of those surveyed.
This is followed by controversies and scandals (43 percent), players perceived as unsympathetic (26 percent) and anger about the lack of equality in the women's national team (24 percent).
Only then does the sporting failure of the team follow, which failed in the group phase at the 2018 World Cup and did not make it past the round of 16 at the European Championship last year (21 percent).
Civey surveyed around 5,000 citizens online from October 18th to November 17th.
cev
