When British fan Chris ordered a beer with dinner at Kebab Restaurant, Qatar, which is hosting the FIFA World Cup, he was told they did not serve it.
Chris, a 34-year-old sales manager from London, was frustrated at first, before settling on lemonade instead and expressing that if he were a few years younger he wouldn’t have been to this edition of the soccer World Cup.
In the conservative Islamic country, finding a place to get an alcoholic beverage, a fixture at sporting events around the world, has been top of mind for many fans since Qatar surprisingly banned the sale of beer in stadiums.
In contrast, many bars and nightclubs in the capital, Doha, one of the rare places where fans can drink alcohol, were packed with crowds and their tables fully booked on Sunday as the tournament kicked off with the match between the host country and Ecuador.
The fan area for the big event, which can accommodate 40,000 spectators and is allowed to drink alcoholic beverages, outside the bars of luxury hotels, was also so full that the police intervened on Saturday evening to remove thousands.
The unusually high price of alcohol also upset many who were accustomed to a “beer-filled” tournament, according to the Associated Press.
“We miss the beer,” said Fabian Cruz, 48, from Ecuador, as he strolled through central Doha, adding that he would not try to go to the fan zone again after Saturday night’s mayhem, while pointing to the difficulty of spending $14 in his hotel on beer mug
The question of where and how to get alcohol has dominated World Cup fan groups on WhatsApp and Facebook.
These groups contained many exchanges of advice on how to find a place to drink, or how to bring it to Qatar, and put alcoholic beverages in sterilized containers, while some reported that their bottles were confiscated at the airport.
“We are disappointed,” said Ritu Mohan, from England, of the beer ban inside stadiums, noting that he was roaming the streets looking for pubs with empty spaces on Sunday night. “We should have known what we were doing when we heard that Qatar will host the tournament.