To think that alcohol ban in Qatar shouldn’t be a shock

[Laurendelaney1987]

The Newspapers are reporting that alcohol will not be served in stadiums during the World Cup.

I don’t understand the uproar: it’s a Muslim country: if you go there you shouldn’t expect to be drinking. Visitors have a choice of whether to visit or not, and Qatar are quite right to not want lots of drunks causing mayhem.

There are many many issues with hosting the World Cup in Qatar: but I don’t think this is a big one

YANBU ofc, their country, their rules.
Alcohol at stadiums is not a human right.

I think it might be an eye opener to some, how much they can enjoy themselves without alcohol.

Some hotels serve alcohol and I think they’d agreed it that Budweiser could serve at stadiums but now they may have to retract that- costing fifa millions in breach of contract- not that I feel remotely sorry for them

Absolutely.

Nobody needs alcohol and I say that as someone who likes a drink myself. From what I can gather it’s literally just during matches that they can’t drink. Sounds sensible to me.

Slave labour used to build stadiums: I sleep
No beer in stadium: Real shit

Im amazed anyone with any sense of decency actually wants to go.

Of course Beckham is making a fortune out of it. Says it all.

I agree, people are ridiculous to moan about that. Also I don't 'get' the obsession with alcohol anyway. So many football fans (not all of course), are rowdy, the UK has a bad reputation for that so perhaps the World Cup will be a more civilised occasion this time.

I think people are questioning fifas decision to hold the tournament there , rather than the host countries laws and customs. . Its a dumb decision by fifa but money talks

YANBU. I’m not Muslim but I’m fed up of all the fuss about Qatar. If you go to a Muslim country, you don’t drink booze and you don’t promote gay sex. I’m embarrassed at how disrespectful Western visitors are being towards their culture.

It makes me despair that THIS seems to be what is causing a lot of people to question whether Qatar should have been awarded the world cup... but am not surprised really, money talks. Sad that the human rights atrocities don't seem as much of a point of principle or importance for many though.

Newspapers cover this uproar instead of the tax increases that are coming to pay for the incompetent government who wasted billions on a bad test and trace system and turned a blind eye to fraud during Covid, and tanked the economy with the Kwasi Kwarteng 'fiscal event'.

I agree. I think the more people that question it the better but how awful if it’s this that makes people think about it.

I think the issue is that they have changed their mind from the original agreement.

it’ll be interesting to see if there are many fans there tbh

Well I do think it might be reasonable for them to be shocked as - until the Qatari royal family started pushing for a complete ban - alcohol was meant to be available:

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/15/football-fans-will-have-to-pay-12-for-a-beer-at-world-cup-in-qatar

However I don't really care how disappointed anyone going to Qatar is instead of boycotting that despicable regime. I listened to a play on radio 4 yesterday, Dear Harry Kane - told from the perspective of a migrant Sri Lankan worker building the stadium. Heartbreakingly criminal exploitation of young men. Well worth a listen.

YANBU. There are plenty of human rights issues in Qatar, but access to alcohol isn't one of them.

What about the culture of slave labour, should we respect that as well?

Bloody hell. Did you just suggest that 'wanting to drink alcohol' and 'being gay' are equally 'disrespectful'?! What, precisely, constitutes 'promoting gay sex' in your opinion?

This.

The main point though, is that a tiny insular country with no experience in policing large sporting events simply sn't geared up to welcome such a massive influx of diverse visitors.

YANBU. I’m not Muslim but I’m fed up of all the fuss about Qatar. If you go to a Muslim country, you don’t drink booze and you don’t promote gay sex. I’m embarrassed at how disrespectful Western visitors are being towards their culture.

Well, you can drink booze. But why should ANYONE respect a culture with such an appalling human rights record?

They can't sale the tickets, with the buyers expecting alcohol to be sold, then suddenly retract it. They need to refund the ticket sales and reimburse flights, hotels, tone booked off work. I'd be pissed off if I spent my money on the ticket then told its all changed.

So it only affects the people who have actually traveled there. The people who are, presumably, totally ok with the human rights abuses and the homophobia but, take their Bud away and that’s their limit? Okaaay.

Alcohol fine, but being gay isn't a cultural nuance - it is a human right so you shouldn't really conflate the two as some sort of western ignorance angle

'fed up at all the fuss' directly contributes to the perpetuation of unethical treatment of human beings around the world. Fine, be apathetic if you don't have the energy to engage, but actively suggesting people should ignore the atrocities because you don't want to hear about it is quite despicable

I don't agree with many of their laws, but it's the law of their land. Don't like it? Don't go.