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

This totally.
And how much money did they bribe people with to host it in the first place.

Build the stadiums etc on slave labour? Fine
Terrible human right record? Fine
Cant get pissed at matches? Outrageous

Some of the posters are being really disingenuous though, it’s not about alcohol specifically or Qatar being Muslim it is about them rolling back on a pretty massive change with 2 days until the World Cup kicks off.
People will have already have bought tickets, travel, accommodation and it’s a bit late in the day to make such big changes to the hosting.

It was also said how everyone of any sexual orientation would be welcome, again that was quite harshly spoken about in recent weeks compared to how things were phrased after the bid.

Having the world cup in Qatar was a really bad decision for all the reasons that have been mentioned. I personally wouldn't set foot in the place. All this was entirely predictable.

Exactly. It's not about the booze but the sudden change of plan. The terms of sale have been broken.

Well, serves FIFA right for doing business with such a country TBH. I hope they get as shafted as possible.

Are you also fine with **Qatar having the death sentence?

It could also be said When you agreed to host the world, you also agreed to host the different cultures, tastes and mannerisms of the different people of the world

i think some posters are somewhat missing the point. When events like this are awarded there are criteria. One is that they should be sustainable, one is that they don't have more than x number of stadia in one place (for Qatar it should be 2 but there are 4 in Doha i think). It is a massive legally binding contract and one of the things that it includes is the sale of the sponsors products. In this case beer.

It's interesting though. Because a beer company also sponsors the Champions League and IIRC (from my experience of attending several matches) inside the stadia at CL matches, only alcohol free beer is available. Outside the stadium, the usual rules apply. The Bundesliga (well, the police) often designate particular matches (eg Gladbach vs Cologne) as a "risk" match and there is a complete ban on alcohol within a 5 km radius of the ground. These rules are applied in consultation with the national FA, UEFA and FIFA where appropriate.

The World cup could have been equally arranged as such with no alcohol allowed. I'm not sure Budweiser would have been happy with that. But now? with one side unilaterally trying to apply an alcohol ban? good luck with that. But no pity for anyone from me. It should never have got this far.

Obviously to thick to comprehend my first paragraph, but crack on 😂

I think countries have a right to host events without having the violence and yobs. Countries with a poor record in human rights and slave culture do not have a right to host.

Alcohol isn't a big deal for me as I don't drink so a couple of hours dry isn't the end of the world. They might actually remember what they're watching!

Exactly this

I am always being told that when a person visits another country they should follow it's laws / rules and regulations. Why would it be any different here.

Football and alcohol are a terrible mix. The fights that start because someone is sloshed or lose their sense of right and wrong. I have been to the Middle East and alcohol is given the respect it deserves. Go to any large city on a Fri/Sat after 11 in the UK and its full of people staggering around, women tottering around on high heels clearly the worse for wear etc.

Even if alcohol is served it will be expensive and some people just want quantity rather than quality.

My friends husband constantly goes on boozy weekends abroad with friends where they tank themselves up, just go from pub to pub and joke they did see the city as they were walking from one bar to the next bar next door!

I do like a drink but its become acceptable for a large number of people now to think that if alcohol is not served an event will be boring or not worth going to.

Ask my cousin who is a senior A&E nurse in Newcastle. Every weekend they have to deal with young men and women who get themselves into trouble because they have not known when to stop drinking

Speaking out against an oppressive dictatorship which persecutes homosexuality is not “promoting gay sex”. Banning alcohol, fine (bet there is a ton of speakeasys though), banning someone’s sexuality, not fine. It’s not disrespectful to say human beings deserve to be treated with respect however they are born, ffs.

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

I suspect the reference is Peter Tatchell showing up to do a one-man protest then claiming to be arrested when the police just spoke to him.

Not to mention the multimillion pound deal with Budweiser.

The time to ban alcohol was not 2 days before the event.

But hey FIFA didn’t care about the Qatari human rights record until it affected beer.

I didn’t realise there had been a change 2 days before the event. Although I am of the opinion alcohol has no place in stadiums anyway. Maybe this will teach UEFA to not do business with oppressive regimes.

You're not supposed to be allowed to drink in the stands at UK football matches

It’s shocking because they’ve made these agreements years ago only to renege at the last minute before anyone can really do anything.

Although will say it’s annoying when Western news outlets go to Qatar and interview some local about LGBT. What a shocker—they think it’s a mental illness or just plain degeneracy. Like, is this a surprise? Of course that’s what someone from an Islamic theocracy would think 🙄

Build the stadiums etc on slave labour? Fine
Terrible human right record? Fine
Cant get pissed at matches? Outrageous

This.

Really appalling to raise it at the 11th hour after all sponsorship rights agreed. But absolutely unsurprising given who we’re dealing with. And small beer compared to the human rights abuse and homophobia in that country.

Really? Well I’m horrified how disrespectful some Muslims are to gay people and women.

I think the point is that they agreed to it previously and are now pulling out at the very last moment.

The whole debacle is awful though. I love football but don’t want to watch it

You can buy alcohol in Qatar. You can have as much as you please at a bottomless brunch or in a bar. It isn't a completely dry country. Also the ticket buyers were supposedly told there would be beer at the matches so how us it right to suddenly change after the tickets have been bought???

I think countries have a right to host events without having the violence and yobs. Countries with a poor record in human rights and slave culture do not have a right to host

The awarding process covers all things about the sale of alcohol though - it is to accommodate several of the sponsors.

The individual national FAs work very closely with the police at home and at the host nation to keep known hooligans out (several of whom have to report to their local police station during matches) and so on. That is also covered in the awarding of the event. And it is why some countries say either "never" or "never again" to events like this. And others who have handled it badly are not allowed to bid again.