A matter of opinion: Does the World Cup boycott make sense – or are the fans allowed to celebrate?
Created: 2022-11-18Updated: 2022-11-18 12:09 p.m
By: Günter Klein, Manuel Bonke
Never has a World Cup polarized more: are the fans allowed to celebrate so exuberantly?
© Sebastian Kahnert/dpa (Montage)
Why is a World Cup allowed to take place in the desert emirate of Qatar?
In view of the human rights situation, a number of fans decided in favor of the boycott even before the World Cup.
Is this the right way?
The Qatar Debate.
A boycott doesn't get anyone
anywhere, says chief sports reporter Manuel Bonke.
Ignore the World Cup – if only for your own protection
, says chief sports reporter Günter Klein.
It's a journey into the unknown for everyone who follows the World Cup in Qatar - that also applies to our reporters Manuel Bonke and Günter Klein.
They start the four weeks leading up to the finale on December 17 with mixed feelings.
What is the human rights situation like, what can critical fans and journalists expect?
And: Is boycotting the World Cup the right way?
The points of view of the debate:
Manuel Bonke is chief reporter for sports (tz/Münchner Merkur).
Responsible for FC Bayern and the national team.
© IPPEN.MEDIA
Chief sports reporter Manuel Bonke is convinced that a boycott will not get anyone anywhere.
If you don't want to watch the World Cup in front of the TV at home in Germany, you're welcome to do so.
However, he should be consistent in his Qatar boycott beyond football.
For example, critics would have to cancel the cheap leasing rate for their VW, forgo the low interest rate offered by Deutsche Bank when financing their own homes, or simply stop using household appliances from Siemens.
The emirate has a stake in these and other German companies with its sovereign wealth fund.
In the next federal election, you shouldn't put your cross with the Greens either, after all it was Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck who, in his role as Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, knelt before the Emir to find gas for Germany in the energy crisis.
If you don't tune in, you also have to ask yourself: Did you also boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia?
Olympics in China?
Or do you watch Paris Saint-Germain games?
And what do you think of Bayern sponsor Qatar Airways?
Qatar boycott?
The players are the least responsible for the fact that the world association decided in this way
There is no question that the assignment to the desert state was a mistake by FIFA, with some officials lining their pockets with bribes.
Anyone who wants to get one over on Qatar and FIFA with black TV screens does so to the chagrin of the athletes.
They are the least responsible for the fact that the world association decided in this way.
They are the ones who will comment critically and set an example - as demanded by many.
But what is the point if the tournament is not followed in Germany and their words and actions are not heard?
The World Cup will not only be the most political tournament in World Cup history, luckily it will also be interesting from a sporting point of view.
Instead of after a long season, the final round takes place in the middle of the game.
This means that the representatives from the European leagues in particular are in full swing and their bodies don't have to get going again in the course of the tournament.
The World Championship drivers are in the rhythm and used to reeling off several games within a few days.
That could ensure an unprecedented sporting level.
After the Corona interruption at the Champions League tournament in Lisbon, national coach Hansi Flick proved as coach of FC Bayern that he can use such extraordinary circumstances to be successful in sport.
After the 2018 World Cup embarrassment, the national players have sworn to make amends for the current tournament.
Anyone who knows the ambitious players from the 1995 vintage around leading player Joshua Kimmich knows that they will follow their words with deeds.
Despite all the grievances, Qatar is all about sport
Günter Klein has been a more or less constant companion of the German national team as a reporter since 1988.
© IPPEN.MEDIA
Ignore the World Cup – if only for your own protection, demands sports chief reporter Günter Klein.
I will travel to Qatar and report on this World Cup.
But I won't be angry with you if you remove the sports section from the newspaper in the next four weeks and leave the television switched off.
I dislike this World Cup.
That has to do with the country in which it takes place.
Undeniably, this tiny Qatari has geopolitical reasons for making itself big through its financial resources.
And a World Cup must definitely also be hosted in the Arab world.
Qatar violates the fundamental principle of the sport
But Qatar violates the basic principle of the sport: football is so massively successful because it absorbs everyone.
Football is for everyone.
Qatar, however, excludes people who do not fit into the social picture.
It does not meet basic standards, it exploits – and this cannot be made up for by giving away parts of the stadium that are no longer needed to poor countries after the World Cup.
Better if Qatar had treated the workers it hired from developing countries fairly.
That would be a matter of humanity, which must also exist in a conservative culture.
Can you just hide the deaths that have been glossy for a few weeks?
no
An attention boycott is not just a symbolic gesture.
The ratings and coverage that Qatar 2022 will generate will help determine whether the World Cup will be considered a success or not.
If there are not 30 million Germans on the devices, but only half, that would increase the pressure on the DFB to assert its influence more strongly in the umbrella organizations on future awards.
more on the subject
This is how we report on the controversial World Cup in Qatar
It is also a consideration to ignore the World Cup for reasons of self-protection.
Major sporting events shape memories, they stand for situations in life, for feelings;
they have always been sacred to us.
2022 should not be allowed to desecrate what used to be - and everyone will find their tournament in history, with which they combine the very best.
Rejecting a World Cup as a football fan takes a lot of effort.
Doing it is worthy of all honor.
Maybe there is a middle ground.
To evade the hypocritical football hooray celebration, but to consciously read what is happening around this tournament.
I want to write these stories without PR and whataboutism, so I'm flying to Qatar for that.
So don't throw away the sports section right away.
Vote!
And let us know what you think in the comments!
IPPEN.MEDIA: Network for diversity of opinion
"matter of opinion":
This is where people with attitude have their say.
You initiate a debate - on topics that move our society.
The IPPEN.MEDIA network
is one of the largest online publishers in Germany.
At the locations in Berlin, Hamburg/Bremen, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart and Vienna, journalists publish for more than 50 news offers.
These include brands such as Münchner Merkur, Frankfurter Rundschau and BuzzFeed Germany.
News, interviews, analyzes and comments
from the IPPEN.MEDIA network reach more than 5 million people in Germany every day.