World’s football governing body, FIFA recently announced a ban on the sale of alcohol at the 2022 World Cup stadiums in Qatar.
The Royal family’s insistence on having FIFA listen to them ahead of tournament kick-off finally paid off.
FIFA statement announcing the ban on alcohol reads:
“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.”
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While this is a major statement from FIFA, the move has raised controversies amongst fans, majorly from Europe.
But what does this actually mean to fans?
what are the legal implications for breach ?
Firstly , drinking alcohol is not illegal in Qatar. But there is a ban on drinking within the World Cup stadium parameters.
Fans will only be allowed to drink in special licensed public places – and some of those licensed venues is the Brand Activation Areas within the stadium perimeters, that is no longer the case as this ban continues to be effected.
Drinking outside of these areas could lead to a fine of up to 3,000 Riyals – which is approximately £700 – and a six-month jail sentence.
Fans across the World will have to quickly adjust to not taking alcohol around the World Cup stadiums to avoid being implicated.
The decision is a win for the Royal Family and also a reinstatement of their conservative nature as an Islamic state.
Notwithstanding, the World Cup fiesta has always promised loads of excitement and joy for the fans, we expect same with Qatar 2022 World Cup as teams gear up with final preparations ahead of kick off .
Hosts, Qatar will open the tournament with a Group A match against Ecuador on Sunday November 20 at 19:00 local time in Doha at the Al Bayt Stadium.
