Rutland pubs hope World Cup will bring a 'needed boost' to hospitality sector

Rutland's pubs will be hoping for a much-needed boost to the local hospitality sector once England's World Cup campaign kicks off later today.

The Crown Tavern in Oakham will be opening outside of its usual hours to show all of England's games live on TV.

Landlady, Lindsay Taylor, said a winter World Cup will be a little different:

'We do plan on being busy but understand it won't quite be the same not playing through the Summer months. I don’t have a beer garden so my football/sports has always been inside only.'

'All of us in the economy at the moment need a little boost and I’m confident this will help bring out more people supporting the local pubs and restaurants in the area.'

While pubs are hoping it will bring in customers during a tough time for businesses, away from the games themselves there are concerns over FIFA letting the World Cup be held in Qatar

Away from the pitch, Stamford's LGBTQ+ community have condemned the competition being held in a country where homosexuality is illegal.

Nina Van Dyck, from the Stamford LGBTQ community, says holding the tournament in Qatar is a step backwards:

'It's been very hard for sports, especially football, to make LGBTQ players feel welcome and supported. It's taken a long time for that to happen and now we're going to play a World Cup tournament in a country where you could possibly be arrested and imprisoned, for a long time, for being gay.'

'It certainly seems that, while they say that everyone is welcome, you would certainly not feel very comfortable in a country like that, supporting the football if you were of the LGBT community - and I think that's a very unfair thing.'

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar - and is punishable by imprisonment, or even a death sentence. You can also be arrested for campaigning for LGBT rights.

But organisers insist the tournament will be "inclusive and discrimination-free"

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