In exactly one month, the Orange team will play their first game at the much-discussed World Cup in Qatar. Entrepreneurs also note that the tournament is controversial. “The euphoria is really hard to find,” says Winny Bogers from wholesaler EuroPromoTextiel in Breda. “It cannot be compared to previous European Championships or World Championships.”

Bogers has been realizing large advertising campaigns for companies and shops for almost thirty years. In previous tournaments he received at least thirty or forty requests a week. “It started nine months before a tournament, then supermarkets and other shops and companies came up with campaigns. Now there is simply no more demand, zero point zero.”

Bob Amian from webshop Het Feestbeest is also expecting a sparse event. “It’s going to be a crazy World Cup. I don’t think the atmosphere is that good. That’s why I bought significantly less, about 50 percent less.”

knots in the abdomen

Sports historian Jurryt van de Vooren understands where the difference comes from. “Football fans are now wondering if they watch what they like best. They didn’t ask themselves that in 2014 or 2018,” says Van de Vooren, one of the initiators of the Cancel Qatar Committee. “FIFA has enabled millions of people to sit and watch with a knot in their stomachs. It has become a contaminated World Cup.”

Nevertheless, Van de Vooren ultimately expects the same football madness as in other years. “When the ball rolls, the bad news is immediately overshadowed. Then it’s about the upcoming game, minor injuries or Louis van Gaal being angry or smiling at a press conference.”

HEMA also expects the Netherlands to back massively behind the Orange team. That’s why there are a few items in the shop this year. “For us, this is less due to legal issues, among other things, but of course current events and moods around Qatar also play a role. We’re not entirely comfortable with that,” a spokesman said.

In several Dutch cities, political parties are questioning the placement of large screens to watch the games. For example, the Rotterdam branch of GroenLinks has already asked the municipality if the screens could be banned this year, and D66 in Amsterdam wants attention to be paid to the exploitation of migrants before the games.

“Instead of wash sports Human rights abuses are the focus for those in power in Qatar,” D66 Council Member Rob Hofman said in a press release.

In France, it was previously announced that games would not be shown on big screens in many cities. According to Van de Vooren, the games will not be broadcast in a number of pubs in Germany.

The fact that the World Cup is being held in winter this year due to Qatar’s high summer temperatures could also impact the popularity of watching, says Van de Vooren. “How many people will stand at a screen when it snows?”