21st November 2022 – (Qatar) According to talksport.com, FIFA initially confirmed ticket holders would have access to alcohol within the stadium perimeter both before and after games, but that has been reversed. A FIFA statement read: “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 Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters.”
This wasn’t expected to happen and fans had been told alcohol would be on sale within the stadium perimeters. Therefore, only non-alcoholic beer and soft drinks will be available inside the stadium perimeter.Non-alcoholic beer will set fans back £7, with bottles of water to cost £2.30.
Booze will be available to people who have paid for hospitality boxes, but given prices for those start at £19,000, there are unlikely to be many normal fans with access.
However, some fans have found a way to bring beer cans into the stadium by using beer can rubber cover to disguise it as a a can of Coca-Cola. These silicone can sleeves can be purchased easily from Amazon.com for around US$9 for a set of three.
Despite all these restrictions in stadiums, alcohol isn’t illegal in Qatar, but there is zero tolerance for drinking in public and being drunk in public is a crime. Alcohol is available to buy for over 21-year-olds from licensed hotel restaurants and bars. There is also a single state-controlled off-licence, but any visiting fan should be aware it’s for residents only.
