Qatar’s ban on beer at World Cup stadiums holds the seed of future disputes, writes foreign journalist Sampo Vaarakallio.
12:02•Updated 12:16
DOHA. Newly rough, fine skyscrapers glisten in the Persian Gulf sun. There is a feeling of a money party in the air.
The walls of the houses are decorated Neymar’s, Manuel Neuer’s and with full body photos of many other football stars. The Fifa circus has come to town, but is football itself also there?
The setting for the World Cup in Qatar is cool. More than 200 billion dollars have been burned to build stadiums, hotels and other necessary infrastructure.
Beneath the shine of the buildings is darkness and blood. Qatar’s human rights violations are known to the world. The oppression of migrant workers has been documented.
It is also known that Fifa’s top management suffered massive corruption when the World Cup was awarded to Qatar. In that sense, the World Cup is also built on fraud.
That same logic of cheating has been a sort of underlying theme the whole time Qatar has been preparing for the Games.
Qatar took a 1-0 lead against Fifa when it persuaded the International Football Association to accept that the games be played at an odd time in the end of the year and not in the summer.
The FIFA World Cup during the summer vacation of the national leagues has been a normal practice and it has hit the DNA of the players. The decision to move the date was made without consulting the players. Now their physical stress in the middle of a long series season becomes really heavy.
Sponsors who finance national leagues and clubs also have their hands in their pockets clenched into fists when business suffers.
Qatar, knowing its strength, has been able to attack. It took a 2-0 lead in August when it persuaded Fifa to move the opening game between Qatar and Ecuador a day earlier.
Qatar wanted that when it opened the Games with a match of its own national team, the world’s attention would be focused only on them for a day.
The World Cup is a mega cleanup operation for Qatar. It wants to wash off the dried blood stains on its shield with a spectacular party.
And on Friday, just two days before kick-off, Qatar showed Fifa exactly where the fridge was. Qatar announced that it is not allowed to buy beer in the eight stadiums of the Games. 3–0.
Qatar’s alcohol policy is strict. An ordinary traveler and race tourist can only get alcoholic beverages from the premises of international hotels. Beer is also served in special fan areas during the games.
The football culture of many countries includes going to stadiums both to watch the game and to enjoy a beer in the company of other football fans. It is in the DNA of many fans.
Football fans around the world have bought expensive tickets for matches, as well as very expensive flights and accommodation.
Many definitely feel that they have been cheated, when before the match and at half-time you can’t discuss different attack combinations and the players’ fitness for the day with a group of friends over a pint.
Qatar wants to avoid drunken fans messing around in stadiums and the resulting alcohol and cultural clashes. It is understandable as an idea, but the timing also speaks from another point of view.
Serving beer at the World Cup is a monopoly of the American Budweiser. The beer company sponsors the event with tens of millions of dollars. This is where the ingredients of a big fight lie.
Is Qatar’s – and Fifa’s – last-minute game move a breach of contract? How does Fifa overcome this without losing the trust of the sponsors?
Budweiser is also one of the four sponsors of Fifa that have publicly supported, for example, the compensation fund for families of migrant worker victims and disabled workers presented by Amnesty International.
Fifa has not agreed to compensation. Qatar sees the entire compensation fund as one indication of the campaign against it.
Was the Muslim country’s strict alcohol policy just a smokescreen for Qatar wanting to take revenge on Budweiser?
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