All lectures and panel discussions that are not held virtually will take place at 3-2-1 Qatar Olympic and Sports Museum. They will be in English with simultaneous translation into Arabic. Guests are invited to also visit the ‘World of Football’ exhibition on this occasion.

Tuesday, 4 October 2022 at 6:30 PM
Is it only about luck? Lecture - Goethe-Institut Gulf-Region
A lecture on penalty shots by Prof. Dr. Daniel Memmert (University of Cologne).

Are the Germans better at taking penalty shots than the English? Should the player who got fouled execute the penalty kick himself? And what mindset should the player have when taking a penalty? Where should the goalkeeper position himself?

Prof. Dr. Daniel Memmert of the German Sport University Cologne is one of Germany’s leading experts in the field of sports science and sports psychology. He has researched penalty shots over many years and will answer these questions in his talk. The lecture is for professionals of the field of football and fans alike. 

Sunday, 9 October 2022 at 6:30 PM
A World Cup like no Other Lecture - Goethe-Institut Gulf-Region
Lecture on Qatar and the FIFA World Cup by Dr. Danyel Reiche (Georgetown University).

“Never before has a FIFA World Cup changed a country to the extent that this World Cup has changed the Emirate of Qatar.” - Dr. Danyel Reiche, Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS) and Associate Professor, Georgetown University Qatar.

Dr. Danyel Reiche can be considered the leading expert on Qatar and the FIFA World Cup. His recently, together with Paul Brannagan, published book ‘Qatar and the 2022 FIFA World Cup’ provides the first academic analysis of the politics and the controversy surrounding it. Based on the small state theory, the authors explore how Qatar uses major sporting events such as the World Cup to gain recognition internationally and become a significant player in the region and beyond. 

Tuesday, 11 October 2022 at 6:30 PM
Women & Football Panel Discussion - Goethe-Institut Gulf-Region
Moderated by Dr. Danyel Reiche (Georgetown University). With Monika Staab (former coach of the Qatari women’s national football team and current coach of the Saudi women’s national football team) and Farkhunda Muhtaj (captain of the Afghan women’s national football team).

Women’s football dates back to the 1860s when women in the United Kingdom took up the sport. But it was not until 1991 that the first World Cup for women was held and women’s football has only been recognised as part of the Olympic program since 1996. 

Nowadays there is no longer any difference between the rules for women’s and men’s football. One could say the only difference is the gender of the players. However, there is far less international media coverage of the women’s World Cup than of the men’s event. Women’s football is supported and promoted much less than the sport for men. And the money spent on facilities and players is on a different level for male players than for their female counterparts.

Our panelists explore various questions during the panel discussion: What does it mean today for a woman to play football professionally? What obstacles or stereotypes do player and coaches face? Do they feel that their sporting achievements are recognised by society? And how does the sport empower them besides all these aspects? 

Tuesday, 18 October 2022 at 6:30 PM
 From Paper to the Pitch Lecture - Goethe-Institut Gulf-Region
A virtual lecture on the design of football jerseys by Jürgen Rank (Adidas).

Are you one of those football fans who buy your national team’s latest kit for each World Cup? Or are you interested in design and want to learn how the football jersey you see on the pitch is created on the drawing board? 

Jürgen Rank invites us to explore football from a design perspective and explains how a football jersey makes it from paper to the pitch. He touches on historically iconic shirts, analyses their designs, and explains how they inspired later jerseys or were re-interpreted years later. With a deep-rooted passion for football and almost 20 years of experience as head designer of an international design team for football apparel at Adidas, he is an expert in football and design alike who will give you a novel perspective on the sport – while incidentally providing you with the knowledge you need to give your expert critique of the football jerseys at the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. The event will be streamed live via Zoom.

Tuesday, 25 October 2022 at 6:30 PM
Football meets Art Panel Discussion - Goethe-Institut Gulf-Region
Moderated by Fareed Majari (Director of the Goethe-Institut Gulf Region in Abu Dhabi). With Moritz Rinke (German playwright and novelist as well as captain of Germany’s authors’ football team), Tomislav Topic (German installation artist) & Ibrahim Khalfan (Qatari artist and former football player for the Qatari national team).

Art and football are rarely mentioned in the same breath. Yet some claim that football is a form of art when a player skillfully manoeuvres their way past all the other team’s defenders and manages to score a goal. Many famous artists such as Picasso and Warhol were known for their passion for football, the game sometimes even featuring in their artworks. On the other hand, there are football players who collect artworks or decide to devote themselves to art when they retire from their footballing careers.

There seems to be a closer link between art and football than meets the eye. But what is it that connects the two, and what makes football players or artists so interested in the other domain? Our panelists explore this relationship between the sport and various genres of art. All of them have a connection to art and football in one way or another and will talk about what football and art mean to them and where their true passion lies.

Tuesday, 1 November 2022 at 6:30 PM
Referees - A Love-Hate Relationship Lecture - Goethe-Institut Gulf-Region
A virtual lecture by Prof. Dr. Daniel Memmert (University of Cologne).

Referees are most probably the most controversial ‘players’ on the football pitch. Depending on the decisions they take they are either cursed or praised. Despite their neutral status, football players and fans alike often view them with suspicion and almost as an adversary.

Prof. Dr. Daniel Memmert of the German Sport University Cologne is one of Germany’s leading experts in the field of sports science and especially sports psychology. In his virtual lecture he analyses the role of referees in sports in general and football in particular.

Based on his own research he answers questions such as: How do referees manage the game? What influences their decisions on a personal level? How does the so-called home advantage influence a game and especially the referee’s decisions? And how did the introduction of the video assistant referee change the work of referees? The lecture is for football professionals and fans alike. The event will be streamed live via Zoom. 

A legacy project of the Qatar Germany 2017 Year of Culture.