Already during the draw in April, the scheduling of the first game of World Cup hosts Qatar seemed unusual. Now the world association FIFA should make a correction.
The controversial soccer World Cup in Qatar is supposed to start a day earlier than planned.
According to information from the German Press Agency, the office of the FIFA Council is consulting with the powerful confederation presidents about an application from the host, who wants to host his opening game against Ecuador on November 20th as the sole highlight – and not as the third game of the day on November 21st November. The British sports portal “The Athletic” and the AP news agency had previously reported on it, but the world association FIFA did not comment on the process.
So far, the game between Senegal and the Netherlands on November 21 at 1:00 p.m. local time is scheduled as the first game, this game would then probably slip to the previous Qatar slot at 7:00 p.m. local time – more prime time for Holland. The change should not affect the other World Cup games, including the German group games against Japan (November 23), Spain (November 27) and Costa Rica (December 1).
Hosts Qatar want the opening game
The final of the World Cup is scheduled for December 18 – the national holiday of the emirate. The postponement of the first Qatar game would not be the first change in the schedule, albeit one with a much smaller impact than that decision in 2015, when FIFA decided to move the tournament from summer to winter, also due to great public pressure. Temperatures in Qatar are around 40 degrees during the traditional World Cup months of June and July.
The history of the official opening matches only began in 1966 – before that, the World Cup finals often featured simultaneous matches. However, FIFA has now recognized the first matches of the final tournaments from 1930 to 1962 as opening matches. From 1958 to 1970, the host always opened the tournament, after a change in the statutes, the world champion had the honor from 1974 to 2002, France at the World Cup in Japan and South Korea for the last time. Germany reopened the 2006 home World Cup as hosts with a 4-2 win over Costa Rica.
The World Cup in Qatar is controversial for a variety of reasons. The emirate is heavily criticized for human rights violations and the treatment of foreign workers. “This World Cup is taking place at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons,” Liverpool FC’s Jürgen Klopp recently said.
Source: Stern
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