No sheds please, we’re English! Fans shun Qatar
WORLD Cup chiefs are expecting fewer fans from the UK than usual – with many put off by alcohol bans and ‘shoebox’ accommodation.
Only about 3,000 to 4,000 Three Lions supporters, and up to 3,000 cheering on the Wales team, are likely to travel to Qatar this month.
That is way below numbers at previous tournaments, with some fans complaining about overpriced accommodation, draconian rules on drinking and socialising, and excessively hot conditions in the tiny Gulf state.
Qatar’s tourism chiefs have trumpeted basic cabins costing £230 a night which will be home to thousands of fans during the tournament which runs from November 20 to December 18. But unimpressed supporters have dubbed them ‘shoeboxes in the desert’.
The brightly- coloured huts near Doha airport have two single beds, a toilet, a shower and air conditioning – vital in the 32C (90F) temperatures.
Some 60 per cent of the 6,000 cabins in the supporters’ village – where fans without stadium tickets can watch the matches on a large TV screen – have already been booked up.
Fans are being warned that a trip for the whole tournament could cost them upwards of £5,000, including travel and accommodation. Qatar is a strict Muslim country and drinking alcohol is prohibited except in highend hotels and a dedicated open-air ‘fan zone’ along the seafront. Thanks to a ‘sin tax’ applied to all alcohol sales during the tournament, drinks in the fan zone are expected to cost £13 a pint, with prices in the top hotels rising to an eye-watering £80 a beer during the semi-finals and final.
Drinking anywhere else, along with betting, swearing, vaping and any public displays of affection – for both gay and heterosexual couples – are offences that can lead to arrest.
For the first time at a World Cup, British police are sending a squad of 15 highly experienced officers to help boisterous football fans avoid arrest.