Football without beer – money down the drain – Sport – Kommersant

Two days before the start of the World Cup, perhaps the loudest scandal in the history of the championship that has not yet started broke out. The International Football Federation (FIFA) under pressure from the Qatari authorities decided to ban the sale of beer in stadiums. This caused a very nervous reaction among fans of Western teams, who are accustomed to the fact that there is no football without beer. Obviously, the pressure put on FIFA was quite strong. After all, the federation, because of its decision, risks facing claims from AB InBev, which pays $75 million every four years for the exclusive status of its Budweiser brand as the only available beer at world championship venues.

The World Cup, which starts on Sunday in Qatar, continues to strengthen its scandalous reputation. The story of how the workers involved in the construction of objects for the tournament were paid little, while being forced to work 60 hours a week, does not leave the pages of European newspapers. It got to the point that even the ex-president of FIFA Sepp Blatter (it was during his leadership of the federation in 2010 that Qatar was chosen as the venue for the World Cup) admitted that the decision to give the tournament to this country was wrong.

It is worth recalling that the Qatari authorities were suspected of creating a whole spy network (allegedly it cost the state more than $300 million) aimed at collecting information that could help discredit the opponents of the Qatari World Cup. Plus, on Thursday, the head of the British Center for Middle East Studies, Amjad Taha, said that Qatar allegedly bribed eight Ecuadorian national team players at once (the match of these teams on Sunday will open the World Cup) for $7.4 million. This should ensure Qatar win with a score of 1:0.

However, such statements, based on reports from some anonymous sources, should be treated with caution. But even despite such a background, Qatar had a good chance to quite successfully host the World Cup, so that it would appeal to the fans, and not to the fighters for all that is good. With this, however, difficulties have already arisen.

On Friday, FIFA said that the permission agreed 12 years ago and enshrined in the contract for hosting the World Cup to sell beer in stadiums has been canceled. Beer in the vicinity of the arenas (we are talking about the fenced area of ​​the stadium) will not be sold. At the arenas themselves, they had not previously planned to allow it to be sold. The FIFA statement did not specify what caused such a sharp change in position. According to Reuters, citing a source familiar with the negotiations between FIFA and local authorities, the Qataris argued the demand to ban the sale of beer by the fact that many guests from Islamic countries will come to the country. “The idea was that for many guests of the championship, the presence of alcohol on it would not contribute to creating a favorable atmosphere,” the source said.

FIFA thanked AB InBev, owner of the Budweiser brand, for their understanding. In response, the Budweiser Twitter account posted: “Well, it’s embarrassing.”

Since 1985, Budweiser has been the only beer allowed to be sold at World Cup venues. For exclusive status, AB InBev, according to Fox Sport, pays $75 million for each four-year cycle. It is possible that now FIFA will have to at least partially return the funds paid to the sponsor.

FIFA tried to soften the reaction to the ban on beer in stadiums, recalling that it will continue to be available in the fan zone in Doha, as well as in some hotels. The problem is that in the same fan zone there is a restriction – no more than four glasses per hand, and it costs $14 per 0.5 liter. In general, the introduced regime, if we leave out the fan zone, does not differ from what operates in Qatar at normal times – alcohol is available, but in separate bars at hotels and at high prices. True, there is one alcohol market in the whole country, but buying alcohol in it is not available to everyone.

The reaction to the FIFA decision in Europe turned out to be expectedly negative. So the Football Fans Association of England, probably the main consumers of beer at football tournaments, noted in its Twitter account that it’s not even about beer as such, because, after all, there are enough people who don’t like it, but that the reversal of FIFA’s position happened at the last moment, which indicates the lack of proper feedback between the organizers and fans. What happened also raises concerns that already in the course of the championship, the Qatari authorities may change something else and put the fans who arrived in the country in a difficult position.

Alexander Petrov