‘Sleepless night’ for Swiss bars to show World Cup quarter-final

Pubs and restaurants in many cantons and cities in Switzerland will be allowed to stay open all night on Saturday to allow football fans to watch their World Cup quarter-final against Argentina which kicks off at 3am local time (0100GMT) on Sunday morning.

In Geneva, the cantonal authorities announced in a press release all public establishments in the cafe-restaurant and bar categories could open “without time restrictions during the night of July 11 to 12 and to show the match”.

Switzerland, who have qualified for the quarter-finals of a World Cup for the first time since 1954, face Lionel Messi’s much-fancied Argentina, the reigning world champions, overnight in Kansas City.

For the Nati, as the Swiss team is known, it is a chance to avenge the shattered dream of the round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup, when Argentina won at the very end of extra-time.

According to the ATS-Keystone agency, the cantons of Jura and Bern have granted a similar exceptional waiver for public establishments.

The curfew has also been lifted in a number of other cities including Lausanne, Sion and Sierre while Zurich has granted a “Freinacht” (“sleepless night”) in indoor restaurants and bars.

The canton of Basel-Landschaft has likewise “authorised extended opening hours for restaurants and bars, including those operating temporarily as part of the World Cup,” until 6am local time on Sunday.

 Locarno, on the shores of Lago Maggiore in the Italian-speaking Canton of Ticino, will host the largest public viewing in the country as fans are expected to gather in Piazza Grande to watch the match on the giant screen of the Moon and Stars music festival.