Organisers to ban beer sales at WC
DOHA: FIFA announced on Friday that beer will not be sold to fans around any of the eight World Cup stadiums following “discussions” with hosts Qatar.
It gave no reason for the stunning u-turn on beer sales just two days from the start of the tournament. A FIFA statement said alcohol would only be sold in fan zones, “removing sales points of beer from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters.”
The decision comes only two days before games start in Qatar and 12 years after the country first consented to respect FIFA’s commercial partners.
Non-alcoholic beer will still be available for fans at the 64 matches. Champagne, wine, whiskey and other alcohol is still expected to be served in the hospitality areas of the stadiums. Outside of those places, beer is normally the only alcohol sold to regular ticket holders. Ronan Evain, the executive director of the fan group Football Supporters Europe, called the decision to ban beer sales at the stadiums “extremely worrying.”
“For many fans, whether they don’t drink alcohol or are used to dry stadium policies at home, this is a detail. It won’t change their tournament,” Evain wrote on Twitter. “But with 48 (hours) to go, we’ve clearly entered a dangerous territory — where ‘assurances’ don’t matter anymore.”
While a sudden decision like this may seem extreme in the West, Qatar is an autocracy governed by a hereditary emir, who has absolute say over all governmental decisions. Qatar, an
energy-rich Gulf Arab country, follows an ultra conservative form of Islam known as Wahhabism like neighbouring Saudi Arabia. However, alcohol sales have been permitted in hotel bars for years. Qatar’s government and its Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Already, the tournament has seen Qatar change the date of the opening match only weeks before the World Cup began.
Budweiser’s parent company, AB InBev, pays tens of millions of dollars at each World Cup for exclusive rights to sell beer and has already shipped the majority of its stock from Britain to Qatar in expectation of selling its product to millions of fans.
The company’s partnership with FIFA started at the 1986 tournament and they are in negotiations for renewing their deal for the next World Cup in North America. When Qatar launched their bid to host the World Cup, the country agreed to FIFA’s requirements for selling alcohol in stadiums.