Hospitality venues in nearly half of Dutch municipalities will be allowed to stay open longer during matches involving the national team at the upcoming World Cup, according to the trade association Royal Dutch Hospitality Association (KHN). At least 170 of the country’s 342 municipalities will permit venues to operate beyond standard closing times during Netherlands matches.
The World Cup will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The time difference with the Netherlands ranges from six to nine hours. This means some matches involving the Dutch team will be played after normal closing hours for hospitality venues. KHN therefore asked municipalities to extend opening times.
Matches involving countries with large communities in the Netherlands, such as Curaçao, Cape Verde, Morocco and Turkey, are also scheduled at later times. KHN said the extended hours mainly apply to matches involving the Netherlands. It has not tracked whether municipalities are offering similar arrangements for other matches.
First group match
In March, 14 per cent of municipalities had already indicated they would support longer opening hours during the tournament. This figure has since risen to 49.7 per cent.
The Dutch national team will play its first group match on Sunday, facing Japan at 10:00 PM. This will be followed by matches against Sweden on 20 June at 7:00 PM and Tunisia on 26 June at 1:00 AM. If the Netherlands progresses to the next round, a match could start as early as 5:00 AM
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