The 2022 Football World Cup in Qatar is overshadowed by discussions about human rights in the desert state. Many people want to boycott the sporting event. A German Twitch streamer spontaneously organized a football tournament on November 20 to provide an alternative to the World Cup.
What kind of event was that? The German Twitch streamer freiraumreh primarily deals with current political issues and offers discussion and talk formats with her guests.
On September 30, freiraumreh announced that she wanted to organize an alternative to the Football World Cup in Qatar. Football enthusiasts should have the opportunity to enjoy the sport on the opening day of the World Cup without supporting the controversial event.
After weeks of preparation, it was finally time on November 20: Just in time for the World Cup start in Qatar, 28 personalities from Twitch and YouTube competed against each other in 4 teams.
Thousands Watch Alternative to the World Cup
Who was there? freiraumreh was able to recruit influencers and streamers from various fields for her event. Among those participating were YouTuber Oliver “AlphaKevin” Guthe, the former janitor of Eintracht Spandau, Daniel “Broeki” Broekmann, and author Jennifer “Liza Grimm” Jäger.
This is how the event went: The stream started on Sunday at 1:40 PM, but the kick-off was at 3:00 PM. In the following hours, the 4 influencer teams competed against each other until Team Crocos emerged victorious. The event ended at 7:30 PM.
In these short 6 hours, there was an average of 13,610 viewers, peaking at 17,648 simultaneous viewers. The event was therefore a great success for freiraumreh, who usually has an average of 1,380 viewers (via sullygnome).
The enthusiasm of the viewers is also reflected in the reactions on Twitter: Viewers expressed their thanks for being able to watch football without any guilt.
Incidentally, freiraumreh also raised €13,873 in donations. The streamer emphasized that her primary goal was to create a fun event and that she only briefly referenced the donations in between. The money is intended for organizations like the International Justice Mission, which advocates for human rights (via betterplace).
Organizer Defends Against Criticism
Was there criticism as well? On November 21, the day after the event, freiraumreh addressed various criticisms on Twitter. Some people would have liked to follow the tournament but did not have the opportunity on Sunday and then found out that the VoDs were only accessible to freiraumreh’s subscribers.
However, the streamer reassured them: This is by no means a kind of “paywall”; a video of the event is to be uploaded to YouTube during the day and will be accessible to everyone there.
freiraumreh urged not to always assume the worst but also vented her frustration: The event lasted 7 hours, a lot of work went into it, and no one profited from it. She finds it “disgusting” that there are complaints about not being able to watch it for free.
Accusations that she only organized the event for reach were also firmly rejected by the streamer; it was about human rights (via Twitter).
Overall, however, the football tournament was well received. Nevertheless, it will probably remain a one-off event. Offering an alternative for each individual matchday does not fit with the influencers’ fitness, freiraumreh said (via twitter).
The Football World Cup in Qatar is not only a concern for freiraumreh. Some influencers announced their intention to boycott the event. However, the German streamer OrangeMorange apparently had not quite grasped this back in October: He proudly announced his intention to travel to the World Cup in Qatar.
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