Seoul will not put up giant screens to watch the World Cup after the Halloween tragedy

The Korean Football Association (KFA) announced this Friday the cancellation of its plan to create zones in Seoul, where fans support the South Korean team during the World Cup in Qatar, as a sign of respect for the avalanche that cost the lives of more than 150 people during the Halloween celebrations in Itaewon.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
04 November 2022 Friday 04:34
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Seoul will not put up giant screens to watch the World Cup after the Halloween tragedy

The Korean Football Association (KFA) announced this Friday the cancellation of its plan to create zones in Seoul, where fans support the South Korean team during the World Cup in Qatar, as a sign of respect for the avalanche that cost the lives of more than 150 people during the Halloween celebrations in Itaewon.

The KFA has communicated its decision to withdraw its request to project the match in the central Gwanghwamun square, in the South Korean capital, during the World Cup that begins on November 18.

The federation has indicated that it believed it "inappropriate" to promote fan gatherings in the South Korean capital after a tragic avalanche during Halloween killed 156 people and left 33 seriously injured. As announced, the desire of the entity is to show "respect to the victims and their families."

The first big fan gatherings in Seoul took place during the World Cup that the Asian country co-organized with Japan in 2006. After South Korean companies sponsored the creation of these spaces for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 editions, the KFA and the Metropolitan Government from Seoul took charge of this initiative in the last tournament of 2018.

In Qatar 2022, South Korea is drawn in group H along with Uruguay, against whom it debuts on November 24, Ghana and Portugal. It will be then when they will disable the street congregations to avoid crowds in the central areas of the capital.