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LOUD & PROUD
Boost to England fans ahead of Euro 2024 as Germany relaxes bonkers law that could have seen supporters JAILED
However, pub televisions in Germany must be switched off at the final whistle
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ENGLAND supporters in bars and fanzones can belt out their Three Lions anthem at the opening Euro 2024 match — after Germany eased uber-strict Sunday noise laws.
Tough regulations, ultimately enforceable with jail, would ordinarily ban crowds from shouting and chanting.
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But officials have now signed off on a one-month exemption for June.
The move also allows ground staff to use lawnmowers to trim the pitch at FC Schalke’s ground ahead of England’s opener against Serbia.
Expat Paul Moss, 52, who owns the New Crown pub in Iserlohn, said: “The tournament would have been impossible without this change.
“We want a proper carnival atmosphere and now all England fans need to do is get out here and have a great time.”
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Under the quiet time rules, known as Ruhezeit, any domestic league games on Sunday evenings finish well before 10pm and are generally not televised.
Yet about half of the Euros’ 51 games kick off at 9pm.
So bars and fan zones would not be able to show them outdoors without the risk of fines, which, if unpaid, could lead to prison sentences.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, where England play in Cologne and Gelsenkirchen, officials will now permit events to run until 1am on nine nights and midnight on 13 others.
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But any speakers must be placed as far from residents as possible and the volume kept low.
Pub noise will be tolerated until midnight. But TVs must be switched off at the final whistle.
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