Qatar World Cup: Football fans set to be stung up to $140 per pint
PerthNow
November 11, 2022 11:48AM
The World Cup is one of international sport’s great spectacles but there is something about the 2022 tournament that could leave fans a little flat - the price of beer.
There have been claims of exploitation by some bars charging tourists up to AUD$420 to watch the tournament’s semi-finals and championship match, according to reports.
One package, according to The Sun, includes a three-drink voucher for bottles of Budweiser and Corona. A glass of house wine is also on the menu.
It means tourists will pay $140 per drink.
Qatar’s tough restrictions mean the sale of beer, wine and spirits are for the most part limited to restaurants with ties to luxury hotels.
Public drunkenness in Qatar is punished heavily, with a six-month stint behind bars and a $1240 fine for those found guilty — although officials in the Middle East country are known to look the other way if tourists are enjoying themselves within eateries and hotels.
Qatari officials had pondered making the tournament alcohol-free but instead said it would introduce fan zones which will sell international beverages.
“There are plans in place for people to sober up if they’ve been drinking excessively,” Qatar’s World Cup chief executive, Nasser Al Khater.
“It’s a place to make sure that they keep themselves safe, they’re not harmful to anybody else.”
The tournament has been mired in controversy — from allegations of corruption to human rights violations — and former FIFA president Sepp Blatter this week claimed handing Qatar the World Cup was a “mistake”.
“It is too small of a country. Football and the World Cup are too big for it,” Blatter said of Qatar, the first country in the Middle East to host the tournament.
“Since then, social considerations and human rights are taken into account,” he said.
https://www.perthnow.com.au/sport/wo...pint-c-8827729
