Lotta has been open for 27 years and countless football matches have been broadcast on its two giant screens. But when the World Cup started, the owner decided that the bar would close. On Monday, US-Wales time, customers will play a general knowledge contest. And on Tuesday, when France plays Australia, the pub will voice a panel that will discuss the situation in Qatar, FIFA and the boycott.
Peter Zimmermann, one of the owners of the room, has nothing against football, on the contrary. He is a partner at Cologne (or FC Köln) and thinks he can’t pull out all the stops in the football world.
“We want to set an example against this totally corrupt FIFA system, where money and human rights and football culture don’t matter,” Zimmermann told Deutsche Welle. “Of course Qatar overcomes everything: the oppression of women, discrimination against homosexuals and appalling working conditions,” he continued.
“Of course the World Cup is always a good extra deal, especially when Germany is playing. But we have our regular customers and I hope more people come here for our alternative programming,” he said.
Zimmermann’s initiative was decided in April, when he put up a banner reading “Boycott Qatar”. Over time, other pubs in Cologne joined the initiative.
DW emphasizes that the general German feeling, if not boycott, is indifference to the tournament. In a recent Infratest Dimap survey, nearly half of respondents considered skipping the World Cup altogether.
Germany’s critical sense is suffering in trade, with retail chains recording a drop in World Cup jersey sales of up to 50% compared to the last World Cup in 2018.
Source: DN
