Organizers apparently cancel "pocket money" for paid fans - DFB supporters say fan tournament
Created: 2022-11-20 06:12
By: Antonio Jose Riether
Before the World Cup, the negative reports are piling up.
The organizers are said to have canceled the "pocket money" for the invited fans, and the DFB fan club also canceled its participation in the fan tournament.
Doha - The football World Cup in Qatar could take some getting used to, especially for the local fans.
Many rules for visitors, restricted alcohol serving and the human rights situation in the country dampen the euphoria.
Now, just before the start of the tournament, it became known that allegedly bought fans would no longer receive “pocket money”.
In addition, the DFB fan club opposed participation in the official fan tournament in Qatar due to the unequal treatment of its female members.
Soccer World Cup 2022 |
Host: Qatar |
Opening game: November 20th |
Final: December 18, 2022 |
Defending champions: France |
World Cup 2022: Qatar bought hundreds of fans – and apparently canceled their “pocket money”
In the weeks leading up to the start of the tournament, reports of bought-in fans made the rounds.
Apparently, FIFA reacted to the hesitant interest of fans of major football nations and had spectators flown in to create a good atmosphere and positive television images.
In return, accommodation and flights would be provided.
According to the report, around 450 football fans from 59 countries are involved in the so-called "Fan Leader Network".
World Cup 2022: Qatar wants to protect invited fans from "false claims".
However , the ARD
sports
show is now reporting that the World Cup organizing committee will no longer pay the invited football fans “pocket money”.
Accordingly, an e-mail to the participants of the World Cup travel program states that the guests are thus protected from the "erroneous, misinformed claim that they are "paid fans".
For this reason, “pocket money is unfortunately no longer provided”.
Originally, a daily budget of 70 euros in the form of a credit card for the flown-in fans was provided.
The organizing committee has not yet responded to reports of the cancellation of pocket money for program participants.
The members of the "Fan Club National Team" canceled participation in the fan tournament in Qatar.
© Gladys Chai von der Laage/imago
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In Germany, the fan acquisition was not very popular, the "Fan Club National Team" of the German Football Association is not one of the supporters of the program.
Nevertheless, 35,000 tickets for the World Cup games were sold to German fans by the end of October.
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Martin Endemann, political scientist and spokesman for the European fan association Football Supporters Europe, had already explained to the
dpa
in early November that the foreign fans were artificially acquired.
"The fact that Qatar is still buying fans shortly before the tournament starts also indicates that enthusiasm among active national team fan groups in many countries is rather low."
One should "not consider these people as representative fan representatives, but at most as volunteers for FIFA and the Organizing Committee," he added.
Germany's squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar
View photo gallery
World Cup 2022: DFB fan club cancels fan tournament in Qatar – mixed teams prohibited
But it's not just the invited mood makers who resent the German fans on site.
The official fan club of the German national team canceled its participation in a fan tournament at short notice.
The reason for this was the ban on mixed teams of men and women, as a spokesman for the fan club confirmed to the
Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung
.
"When we asked, we were told that only same-sex teams were allowed to compete.
That's why we decided against it," said the fan club.
The organizers initially "pointed out that they were reenacting the men's World Cup," explained Philipp Beitzel from the fan projects coordination office.
"Then it was said that the tournament was also open to women, but the teams shouldn't be mixed up." That was clearly going too far for the German national team supporters.
(ajr)