Qatar World Cup 2022: fans ‘will survive’ without beer, says Fifa chief Gianni Infantino
- Infantino downplays Qatar’s last minute ban on sale of beer at stadiums as nothing more than a brief inconvenience to spectators
- ‘We tried until the end to see whether it was possible,’ Fifa president says – ‘if for three hours a day you cannot drink a beer, you will survive’
Fifa president Gianni Infantino downplayed Qatar’s last minute ban on the sale of beer at World Cup stadiums as nothing more than a brief inconvenience to spectators.
“If this is the biggest problem we have, I’ll sign that [agreement],” Infantino said on Saturday, a day after the conservative Muslim emirate did an about-face on the deal it had made to secure the football tournament.
Infantino blamed “crowd flows” in Doha for the decision, though it appeared to be a ruling by Qatar’s autocratic government to placate its conservative Wahhabi citizens who already have been angered by some events around the tournament they view as Western excesses.
Infantino said the beer ban at stadiums was made jointly by Qatar officials and Fifa.
“We tried until the end to see whether it was possible,” Infantino said of allowing alcohol sales. “If for three hours a day you cannot drink a beer, you will survive. Maybe there is a reason why in France, in Spain, in Scotland, alcohol is banned in stadiums. Maybe they are more intelligent than us, having thought maybe we should be doing that.”
Spectators can drink alcoholic beer in the evenings in “the Fifa Fan Festival,” a designated party area that also offers live music and activities. Qatar puts strict limits on the purchase and consumption of alcohol, though its sale has been permitted in hotel bars for years outside the tournament-run areas.