Norfolk's pubs looking to 'cash in' on World Cup after years of disruption
The Murderers Arms in Norwich will be showing every game live including England's opener against Iran, this afternoon
Pubs and bars across Norfolk will be looking to cash in on World Cup action over the next four weeks, now the controversial tournament being held in Qatar is underway.
The Murderers Arms in Norwich is one of those. They'll be showing every game live including England's opener against Iran, at 1pm this afternoon.
"I think people will find a reason to go out to the pubs"
Phillip Cutter is the landlord. He's confidence the appetite's there in spite of budgets being tight:
"We haven't had a proper Christmas as a pub industry for the past three years. Hopefully, the world cup will tie into that a little bit. I think people will find a reason to go out to the pubs still. Spending two or three hours down the pub with their mates is something that most people will be able to fit into their budgets".
"This is my ninth world cup here at The Murderers. We have built up a really good reputation over the years, what we are doing is exactly what we've been doing over the past few tournaments. That's having great atmosphere, great beer and hopefully good results will drive people back into the pub as well- so that's really exciting".
"Anything that drives people into the pub is great for us”
"With the world cup being over the festive period, that’s a time where we’re usually busy anyway, but from a purely business point of view, anything that drives people into the pub is great for us”.
“The problem is, obviously when we get to the end of the world cup, we get to the end of Christmas, and then we get January. That’s when the difficulties are going to start for the hospitality industry”.
“I think the government is in an absolutely awful position at the moment, we had quite a lot of help during the pandemic with grants and furlough, but there are lots of bars, and pubs and restaurants across the city that need some more help”.
"FIFA do need to consider where they’re allowing countries to host"
“When Qatar was given the right to host the World Cup there were a lot of raised eyebrows, but in the same way in 2018 World Cup was held in Russia, and their human rights record isn’t great either, but people will still want to watch the World Cup, so I don’t think a boycott is the way forward.
The broadcaster has a real opportunity to try to highlight to short comings of the human rights records in Qatar and that’s a big platform for this to happen”.
“Certainly, looking forward I think FIFA do need to consider where they’re allowing countries to host, and whether they are credible and responsible enough to host a big tournament like this”.