fifa: FIFA, Qatar prepare beer policy for soccer fans at World Cup

Beer is expected to be sold with alcohol at World Cup stadiums in Qatar, but fans may only be allowed to carry non-alcoholic beverages to their seats. FIFA and Qatari organizers are still working on a plan to serve all fans who want to drink at games when the tournament begins in November in the Muslim-majority country.

Hospitality packages offering “premium drinks” in stadiums have been sold out since February 2021, but a policy for most fans at eight venues and longtime World Cup sponsor Budweiser still needs to be finalized five months before the tournament. Is.

The preferred option is to serve beer with alcohol on stadium premises before and after games, and to allow fans to take the non-alcoholic Budweiser Zero to their seats.

“We will confirm this in due course and make things official,” FIFA said in a statement on Friday.

FIFA said the design of possible branding for drinking container fans would be “still being looked at” in areas that would be broadcast to hundreds of millions of viewers.

The 2022 World Cup is the first Muslim country in the tournament’s 92-year history to have such strict social taboos regarding alcohol.

Ever since FIFA chose the host country in 2010, questions have been asked about how Qatar will cater to fans wanting to drink.

The following year, FIFA renewed a sponsorship deal with Budweiser brewer Anheuser-Busch until 2022. That partnership began in the 1986 World Cup.

At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, local lawmakers under pressure from FIFA to pass a special bill exempting the tournament from a ban on the sale of alcohol in stadiums.

Qatari organizers were initially resistant to any alcohol served in stadiums, but a decade ago promised to “come up with a plan that welcomes all.”

“Fifa World Cup fans will be able to enjoy Budweiser Zero and Budweiser during the tournament,” Anheuser-Busch said in a statement on Friday.

Qatar has tested its alcohol policies by hosting football including the 2019 Club World Cup – an event that included European champions Liverpool, South American champions Flamengo and Mexican club Monterrey.

At that tournament, a drinking zone was created at a golf club on the outskirts of Doha to sell beer for $6, a lot cheaper than what was typically available at high-end downtown hotels.

In 2019, a loophole in the plan took fans on an hour-long journey through congested traffic to the Games in buses lacking toilets.

The Golf Club venue is set to be reconsidered for the World Cup, which is scheduled for November 21-December. 18.

Organizers expect around 1.2 million spectators in the 32-team tournament.

Originally published at Pen 18