Beer is expected to be sold with alcohol World Cup stadiums in Qatar but fans may be allowed to carry only non-alcoholic beverages in 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 beverages in stadiums have been sold 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.
FIFA said in a statement on Friday that we will confirm this when the time comes and make things official.
FIFA said that it is still looking into possible branding designs for drinking container fans, which will be in areas that will 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.
Since the host nation was chosen by FIFA in 2010, questions have been raised 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.
Anheuser-Busch said in a statement on Friday that fans of the FIFA World Cup will be able to enjoy Budweiser Zero and Budweiser during the tournament.
Qatar has tested its alcohol policies by hosting football, including the 2019 Club World Cup, with European champions Liverpool, South American champions Flamengo and Mexican club Monterrey.
At that tournament, a golf club on the outskirts of Doha built a drinking area selling beer for 6, much cheaper than what was typically available at high-end downtown hotels.
In 2019, a loophole in the plan took fans for an hour’s journey through congested traffic to games on 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.
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