Organisers of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are close to a deal that would lead to alcohol being subsidised and more readily available during the tournament. However, they have also urged England fans to “bridge the cultural gap” by being on their best behaviour if their team qualifies.
A pint of beer in Doha, where most matches will be played, typically costs around £10 because of sin taxes in the Muslim country. However, organisers expect to announce cheaper alcohol prices, an extension of hotel happy hours and more locations where it will be sold during the World Cup in the coming months.
But they are privately wary of selling alcoholic drinks on the cruise ships where many England fans are expected to stay if Gareth Southgate’s side qualifies because of fears they could turn into “booze cruises”.
“Alcohol is not part of our culture,” Nasser al-Khater, the chief executive officer of the 2022 World Cup, admitted. “However, hospitality is. Alcohol is not as readily available here as in other parts of the world but for the World Cup we want to ensure it is accessible for fans who want to have a drink, so we are trying to find designated locations for fans to have alcohol, other than traditional places such as hotels and so forth.
“We recognise there is an issue with the price and it is something we are looking into. We are looking at finding ways to reduce the price of alcohol.”
Al-Khater also confirmed his security team was working closely with authorities in England, and other countries that have traditionally qualified for the World Cup, to help them best deal with fans – and to ensure police do not react too forcefully to behaviour they might not usually encounter.
“There is a lot of training that is going into security personnel to make sure things that are culturally different are seen in that frame – of what might be acceptable to an England fan might not be acceptable here – and to make sure we bridge that gap.”
However, al-Khater said England fans would have to abide by the law and conceded he was worried by the anti-social behaviour of some supporters at the Nations League in Portugal.
“Look, I think it is a concern,” he added. “Safety and security at any major event is your number one priority. The possibility with altercations between fans because of the size of the country, and a lot of the fans being in the same vicinity, is the key priority. But what we expect from the fans is similar to what we saw in Russia.”
Qatar is expecting to welcome more than one million fans from across the globe and al-Khater insisted supporter safety was of paramount importance and that gay and transgender fans would be made welcome.
“I would like to assure any fan of any gender, orientation, religion and race that they can rest assured Qatar is one of the safest countries in the world and they will all be welcome here. The safety and security of every single fan is of the utmost importance to us.
“There’s a lot of training, there’s a lot of understanding there are different cultures that are going to be descending here and we need to maintain that we are a hospitable culture and hospitable people.”
However, he said fans coming for the tournament would also have to be respectful of local laws and customs.
“We are also going to expect people to get acquainted with our norms and our culture and our laws,” he continued. “And whatever happens in the middle is where we need to make sure it is dealt with in the most appropriate way to make sure it’s a World Cup where everybody feels welcome – and that nobody feels they are in any way intimidated or threatened, whether it’s over religion or gender, across the board, for everybody.”
When pressed about how Qataris may react to a gay couple holding hands, Al-Khater insisted they would not be treated any differently from any other couple or individual. “I will put it another way: a public display of affection is frowned upon,” he added. “It’s not part of our culture. But that goes across the board to everybody.”
