Qatar has performed a last-minute backflip on booze just two days before the start of the World Cup, with a complete ban on beer in all the football stadiums.
FIFA confirmed the controversial move, but tried to reassure dismayed soccer fans they would still be able to buy Bud Zero — a non-alcoholic beer.
The World Cup’s major sponsor Budweiser, which has exclusive rights to sell beer, reacted dryly to the announcement with a tweet which has since been deleted: “Well, this is awkward…”
The four-yearly sports tournament is usually a month-long party attended by people from all over the world.
This was the first World Cup being held in a conservative Muslim country with strict controls on alcohol, the consumption of which is banned in public.
Budweiser was to sell alcoholic beer within the ticketed perimeter surrounding each of the eight stadiums three hours before and one hour after each game.
The beer ban was reportedly enforced after an intervention from senior members of the Qatar royal family.
Questions have swirled around the role alcohol would play at this year’s World Cup since Qatar won hosting rights in 2010.
While the tiny gulf state is not “dry” like neighbouring Saudi Arabia, consuming alcohol in public places is illegal.
Visitors cannot bring alcohol into Qatar, even from the airport’s duty free section, and most cannot buy alcohol at the country’s only liquor store.
Alcohol is sold in bars at some hotels, where beer costs around $15 per half-litre.
Budweiser stands outside a World Cup stadium in Qatar. Photo: Getty
The ban comes just two days before the opening game and has raised questions as to what other sudden changes might be enforced.
In a statement, soccer’s governing body FIFA said: “Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA, a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing sales points of beer from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters.”
Non-alcoholic beer will still be sold at the eight stadiums, while champagne, wine, whiskey and other alcohol will still be served in the luxury hospitality areas of the arenas.
The vast majority of ticket holders don’t have access to those areas, though they will be able to drink alcoholic beer in the evenings in what is known as the FIFA Fan Festival, a designated party area that also offers live music and activities.
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A source told Reuters said the decision was influenced by the large number of fans who would be attending from the Middle East and South Asia “where alcohol doesn’t play such a large role in the culture”.
“The thinking was that, for many fans, the presence of alcohol would not create an enjoyable experience,” the source said.
Outside of the tournament-run areas, Qatar puts strict limits on the purchase and consumption of alcohol, though its sale has been permitted in hotel bars for years.
Ab InBev, the parent company of Budweiser, acknowledged in a statement that some of its plans “cannot move forward due to circumstances beyond our control.”
The company 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 FIFA World Cup kicks off in two days. Photo: Getty
In the runup to the World Cup, rights groups have raised concerns about how the nation will host millions of foreign fans, some of whom might violate Islamic laws criminalising public drunkenness, sex outside of marriage and homosexuality.
Qatar’s government and its Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
This is not Qatar’s first backtrack — but it’s the most significant. Qatar also changed the date of the opening match only weeks before the World Cup began.
The reversal comes after long-term negotiations between FIFA president Gianni Infantino, Budweiser, and executives from Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), which is organising the World Cup, the source said.
