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| Europe |
| German fans frothing over World Cup without home brew |
| 2004-04-23 |
| Globalization Gone Wild! It’s proving hard for German fans to swallow - the 2006 football World Cup looks likely to go ahead without German beer. Shocked politicians are seeking talks with tournament organizers after it emerged that a US brewer has the exclusive right to sell its beer in and around World Cup stadiums. Surely not! A World Cup in Germany without traditional German beer is almost as inconceivable for Germans as the country’s football team failing to qualify for the tournament - or losing to England on penalties. Inconceivable? [They] keep using that word. I do not think it means what [they] think it means. [/Princess Bride] But the Germans may have scored an own goal in allowing football’s world organizing body FIFA to secure an exclusive contract with the US brewer Anheuser-Busch, brewers of Budweiser, as one of the tournament’s official sponsors. Whoops. I hate when that happens. In Bavaria, where beer is regarded as part of the state’s cultural heritage, senior government officials have met to discuss the serious prospect of the World Cup kicking off in Munich’s new Allianz stadium without any of its traditional wheat beers on sale. The local Green party has called on state premier Edmund Stoiber to make the lack of German World Cup beer a top-level issue. Calling out the shock troops. "We will very shortly be approaching the World Cup organizing committee to see what possibilities there still are," said a culture ministry spokeswoman. My guess is you’ll drink Bud Lite and learn to like it. Both Munich and Nuremberg, another Bavarian World Cup venue, are now planning "fan villages" outside stadium precincts so supporters can buy German beer instead of American Budweiser. Gerhard Ohneis, head of the Augustiner brewery, told Munich’s Merkur newspaper: "It’s annoying if there is not going to be any Munich beer in the Munich stadium." A spokesman for Paulaner brewery said a possibility might be to enable Bavarian beer to be sold in "neutral glasses". Bavarian Social Democrat parliamentary group leader Franz Maget said: "The cities will make sure that World Cup visitors are supplied with respectable products." "Not that swill the Americans drink." Nuremberg has an additional problem - it won’t be able to sell its traditional Nuremberg sausages at World Cup games. "McDonald’s has the exclusive on sausage supplies," Maget said. Injury, meet insult. And if that were not enough, German carmakers will also be left on the sidelines, with players, VIPS and officials being shuttled to and from games by South Korean sponsor Hyundai. Technically, if I go to Germany to watch soccer, I would want Bavarian beer and local sausage, not Budweiser and McSausage patties. Hope they can work something out. |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #7 American beer rules. Soccer sucks. Case closed. |
| Posted by: Chris W. 2004-04-23 3:34:21 PM |
| #6 Steve - I was stuck in the Munich station one morning, and around 8 am a group of German soldiers who I think had just finished their leave showed up, beyond drunk and while waiting for their train they spent the morning drinking even more and marching (though that turned progressively into staggering) up and down the station, singing the paint off the walls. |
| Posted by: Laurence of the Rats 2004-04-23 2:42:12 PM |
| #5 German fans will need a Bud to sit through the Toby Keith "Shock'n Ya'all" Half time extraviganza, brought to you by Microsoft... Oh wait, no halftime during the sissy girl football game! (OK, OK ...just having a little Ugly American fun! Chicago hosted some World Cup games, and I know it is the real deal!) |
| Posted by: Capsu78 2004-04-23 2:10:05 PM |
| #4 love it - multilaterism and economics at it's best - |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-04-23 2:09:55 PM |
| #3 Well - Don't they know that the original Busch came from Germany. Thus it IS a German brew, only it was not made in Germany In the Movie Patton : "General - Even if Rommel wan't there, if you defeted Rommel's plan, thus you defeated Rommel!" |
| Posted by: Anonymous4052 2004-04-23 12:15:39 PM |
| #2 Ah, Munich. I've spent many a night in the Munich Banhof waiting for a train. The beer made it all worth while. Reminds me of catching the last train out of Munich on the last night of Octoberfest. All compartments and the corridors of the train packed full of people who have been drinking beer and eating sausages for days. The smell was beyond belief. |
| Posted by: Steve 2004-04-23 11:41:50 AM |
| #1 Hee hee, this is great. Bud Lite and Mickey D's at the World Cup. And riding 4 cyl kimchee machines. The "cretinisation" of Euro culture proceeds apace... |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2004-04-23 11:03:04 AM |