“Cheering Persians” was the name given to the notorious group of Persian secret agents who accompanied Shah Reza Pahlavi on his controversial state visit to West Berlin back in 1967. When they not only cheered, but also beat up the critical German students with roof battens, they were renamed “Beating Persians”.
That particular group of special football fans that the “Sportschau” is now reporting on is unlikely to use any sticks. According to the report, the Organizing Committee of the World Cup is paying selected fans to travel to the tournament so that they can create a good atmosphere there and on social media. “Fans Leader Network” is the name of the group, for whose members flights, accommodation and pocket money are included, according to “Sportschau”.
“The fact that Qatar is still buying fans shortly before the start of the tournament also indicates that the enthusiasm among active national team fan groups in many countries is rather low,” said Martin Endemann from the European fan alliance Football Supporters Europe (FSE) of the DPA. “These people shouldn’t be seen as representative fan representatives, but at most as volunteers for FIFA and the Organizing Committee.”
The World Cup organizing committee did not answer questions about the details at the request of ARD. A spokesman said the fans would be doing “unpaid volunteer work,” the report said. Around 450 fans from 59 countries are involved. According to the “Sportschau”, the German Football Association said that the association was aware of the organizing committee’s program, but that it was not supported by the DFB or the national team fan club. We know “that German fans took part/will take part, but we don’t know how many fans are taking part”.
According to the report, a code of conduct contains clear guidelines for participating fans who agreed to support the World Cup by liking and sharing posts on social networks. Among other things, the use of the slogan “Qatar – the fans’ world cup” (“Qatar – the fans’ world cup”) and the hashtag are agreed
The WM-OK inform the fans that social media posts are being monitored. We reserve the right to request changes or deletion of posts. “We are not asking you to be a mouthpiece for Qatar. But it would obviously be inappropriate to denigrate Qatar, the organizing committee or the World Cup,” says the so-called principles for good postings, which the “Sportschau” has according to its own report. Fans “with an obvious political leaning” are not allowed in the program.
Qatar has been criticized on several occasions since FIFA awarded the tournament in 2010. There are allegations of corruption in the allocation of the tournament, the exploitation of guest workers in the construction of the stadium, the criminalization of homosexuality and a lack of women’s rights.
