Two days before the world’s biggest sporting event is set to begin, The hosting nation has made a U-Turn from its promise made while signing the contract as FIFA announced that beer sales will be banned at the eight World Cup stadiums in Qatar.
FIFA said in a statement that the decision had been made “following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA.” Sales are still permitted at fan events in licensed venues, as well as in-stadium luxury suites that also serve liquor, wine and custom World Cup 2022 champagne.
Qatar follows a conservative form of Islam known as Wahhabism, hence restrictions are quite serious in the energy-rich Persian Gulf country and Liqour is one of them. Public consumption of alcohol is only allowed in certain hotels and restaurants.
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Qatar initially agreed to permit beer sales when it won a bid to host the games in 2010, and reconfirmed that commitment when it signed the contract.
The decision made by FIFA strikes a thought in every fan’s mind that FIFA doesn’t have full control of their most important event. However, they forced a change in national laws when the same event was to take place in Brazil in 2014.
Football’s governing body will now be looking nervously over its shoulders at the prospect of legal action from Budweiser, which has a $75m (£63m) sponsorship agreement with FIFA, and is likely to regard this as a major breach of contract. However, non-alcoholic beverage BUD ZERO from Budweiser will still be available in stadiums.
Budweiser wrote a tweet “Well, this is awkward…” just before the official announcement by FIFA that was quickly deleted.
Plans have repeatedly been drawn up and then revised, and then remade again — The sudden changes in plans after finalizing each stuff and making contracts puts light on a possibility that domestic politics or even royal family influence were playing a role.
The Supreme Committee on Delivery and Legacy had promised alcohol will be available in designated “fan zones” outside stadiums and other hospitality venues.
The host nation may be thinking in another way- this is a tournament where there will be a large number of supporters from Gulf and Asian countries, where drinking alcohol is not part of the culture. And whereas there are some alcohol-free fan zones in Doha, in a stadium it is hard to escape people who have been drinking.
Football supporters are criticizing the decision and questioning other commitments made by Qatar, whether they will fulfill them or break them too?
