The first men’s World Cup in an Islamic country is a challenge for the authorities and for the fans themselves, where organizers fear Qatar’s alcohol restrictions could even fuel drunkenness. Drinking already seems part of football culture of many fans. Whether it’s a few beers before the start of a game to calm the nerves and unite friends, whether it’s to drown the sorrows after a defeat, or to celebrate a great victory. Soccer almost always ends in alcohol, even if it sounds really sad.
But the World Cup in Qatar will be the first in a country with a Muslim majority where alcohol is precisely prohibited for citizens, as is its consumption in the streets.
Since FIFA awarded hosting rights to Qatar in 2010, the organizers have struggled to meet the obligations they pledged to fulfil, which include selling alcohol and providing promotional space for beer brands such as Budweiser, one of the most important sponsors. The objective? Not upset a national electorate that had already chafed at the culture shock of bringing a booze-soaked event to a Muslim nation.
In fact, the Qatari Supreme Committee said: “Alcohol is not part of Qatari culture, but hospitality is, so those fans who wish to consume alcohol during the World Cup in Qatar will be able to do so.” However, everything will be very different from other world cups, where the images of fans drinking in the squares before the games was practically the norm.
On this occasion it will be possible to drink from three hours before the matches and one after in the designated areas. There will also be a specific area to recover from drunkenness and others without alcohol for fans who wanted to “enjoy the experience as a family”.
To go into detail about the arrangements for the competition, it is necessary to know how the Criminal Code of Qatar works, a law that the country has agreed to ignore during the event and that establishes penalties of up to six months and fines of up to 800 euros for anyone who drinks alcohol. in a public place or is found drunk on the street and disturbs others.
Actually, before the World Cup, alcohol was served to foreigners, but only in some hotels and restaurants, where a beer costs between 12 and 18 euros. As stated in this article in EL PAÍS, throughout Qatar There is only one place where you can buy alcohol and is owned by the airline group Qatar Airways. It is on the outskirts of Doha and is not accessible to everyone. In order to buy there, the worker must bring a letter from his company authorizing him to drink and sometimes must present the payroll because an income threshold must be exceeded.
With the opening game of the World Cup just days away, organizers have been working hastily these days to relocate Budweiser-branded beer stations to eight stadiums after a sudden lawsuit that three people (believed to be the royal family) Qatari) performed a few days ago. Within hours, we could already see a group of operators moving the sales stalls from one site to another.
A never ending problem
Indeed, FIFA and Qatari officials have struggled for many years to come up with a plan that would not anger anyone in a place where beer flowed freely for generations, before finally deciding that its sale would only be allowed. within a security perimeter outside the stadiums. In fact, Qatari officials said that beer would be more widely available during this tournament, but that it would be sold and consumed on terms that respected local customs.
At the 2019 Club World Cup they conducted an experiment to sell beer that ended with mixed results. For that event, officials built an area for fans on the outskirts of Doha where they could drink freely for hours. Then, they were transferred by buses to the stadium, a trip that lasted 45 minutes.
What is almost certain is that the hooliganism seen at other tournaments will be highly unlikely in Qatar, given the difficulty in finding alcohol and the fact that a limited number of supporters are expected to travel. The hooligans The English have a very bad reputation, they already had problems at Euro 2020 with chairs flying from one tier to another. The England and Wales Fan Association have already published detailed guidelines for those traveling to Qatar. “Do not bring alcohol into Qatar or drink on the streets. You may be sent home and/or arrested,” the guide says.
Even so, the limitations on alcohol mean a setback for the economic income of the competition and the country. Recent moves to partly restrict the Budweiser brand could complicate FIFA’s relationship with a truly powerful partner. Let’s remember that Budweiser pays approximately 75 million to be associated with the World Cup every four years. The contract with FIFA not only grants it sales exclusivity, but also requires the company to provide large quantities of beer to guests.
Now, with the beer tents being moved to remote and obscure locations outside of games, the plan isn’t even safe. Even as organizers were concerned that if they didn’t, they risked Budweiser concessions being shut down entirely. In the end, the whole event was staged for obvious reasons: money.