DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The sale of all beer with alcohol at the eight World Cup stadiums was banned Friday, solely two days earlier than the soccer match is ready to start out.
Non-alcoholic beer will nonetheless be bought at the 64 matches within the nation.
“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 … stadium perimeters,” FIFA stated in a press release.
Champagne, wine, whiskey and different alcohol remains to be anticipated to be served within the luxurious hospitality areas of the stadiums. Outside of these locations, beer is generally the one alcohol bought to common ticket holders.
Ab InBev, the mother or father firm of World Cup beer sponsor Budweiser, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
AB InBev pays tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} at every World Cup for unique rights to promote beer and has already shipped the bulk of its inventory from Britain to Qatar in expectation of promoting its product to thousands and thousands of followers. The firm’s partnership with FIFA began at the 1986 match and they’re in negotiations for renewing their deal for the following World Cup in North America.
While a sudden choice like this will appear excessive within the West, Qatar is an autocracy ruled by a hereditary emir, who has absolute say over all governmental choices.
Qatar, an energy-rich Gulf Arab nation, follows an ultraconservative kind of Islam often called Wahhabism like neighboring Saudi Arabia. However, alcohol gross sales have been permitted in lodge bars for years.
Qatar’s authorities and its Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy didn’t instantly reply to request for remark.
Already, the match has seen Qatar change the date of the opening match solely weeks earlier than the World Cup started.
When Qatar launched its bid to host the World Cup, the nation agreed to FIFA’s necessities of promoting alcohol in stadiums, and once more when signing contracts after profitable the vote in 2010.
At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the host nation was pressured to alter a legislation to permit alcohol gross sales in stadiums.
Ronan Evain, the chief director of the fan group Football Supporters Europe, referred to as the choice to ban beer gross sales at the stadiums in Qatar “extremely worrying.”
“For many fans, whether they don’t drink alcohol or are used to dry stadium policies at home, this is a detail. It won’t change their tournament,” Evain wrote on Twitter. “But with 48 (hours) to go, we’ve clearly entered a dangerous territory — where ‘assurances’ don’t matter anymore.”
AB InBev’s deal with FIFA was renewed in 2011 — after Qatar was picked as host — in a two-tournament package deal by way of 2022. However, the Belgium-based brewer has confronted uncertainty in current months on the precise particulars of the place it could possibly serve and promote beer in Qatar.
An settlement was introduced in September for beer with alcohol to be bought inside the stadium perimeters earlier than and after video games. Only alcohol-free Bud Zero could be bought within the stadium concourses for followers to drink of their seats in branded cups.
Last weekend, AB InBev was left shocked by a brand new coverage insisted on by Qatari organizers to maneuver beer stalls to much less seen places inside the perimeter.
Budweiser was additionally to be bought within the evenings solely at the official FIFA fan zone in downtown Al Bidda Park, the place as much as 40,000 followers can collect to look at video games on large screens. The value was confirmed as $14 for a beer.
The firm can be primarily based at an upscale lodge within the West Bay space of Doha with its personal branded nightclub for the match.
At the W Hotel in Doha, staff continued placing collectively a Budweiser-themed bar deliberate at the positioning. Its acquainted AB emblem was plastered on columns and partitions at the lodge, with one studying: “The World Is Yours To Take.”
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AP World Cup protection: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
