The whole scandal of the no-beer-zone stadiums in the Qatar 2022 World Cup has garnered a lot of attention from the press and fans on social media. Many non-Muslim fans are not too thrilled against said ruling. However, they are only sold in fan zones.
https://twitter.com/bigdilfywoo/status/1594391912890437632?s=20&t=1tbQCgHEnXE5rLwwpyiebw
After the inaugural match of this year’s World Cup, there was a recording of Ecuador fans chanting “we want beer.” Netizens on social media started poking fun at football fans as they find it funny that fans cannot survive watching football without the alcoholic beverage.
Fans observed that the “luxury” living package would allow fans to drink beers, champagne, and wines. They are called the stadium luxury suites and are only reserved for the FIFA officials and extremely wealthy guests.
Jokes were running around about whether these are really good paid actors who are disguising themselves as ticket paying fans or are they real Ecuadorians. A fan joked that fans might figure out chanting “we are gay,” just to make things more awkward for the Qataris.
Furthermore, a British couple who spent £50,000 to travel to the Middle Eastern country found themselves searching for a £12 pint of beer with other England fans. The stadium allegedly had empty seats which angered a number of people.
According to the Daily Mail, a couple they interviewed stated: ‘Everyone is behind England. There aren’t that many fans here. But my husband, Paul and I just had to come. We’ve spent about £50,000, but worth every penny if we win the World Cup’.
Stephen King’s take on the World Cup’s no beer rule
If you can’t go to a World Cup game without a beer, you might have a problem.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) November 19, 2022
Apparently, the popular writer Stephen King made a controversial statement saying that if a fan needs to be intoxicated with beer while watching their sport, they might have a problem. This could be a question to them, do they actually like the sport, or do they use the sport as an excuse to drink.
Other popular figures responded to King’s statement with sarcasm about Qatar’s alleged “slave” labour. Fans said that it is still unfair that FIFA and high paying fans are getting special privileges for alcohol, which defeats the whole purpose of using Qatar’s customs to ban the rest of the fans.
There were those that are against alcohol and claim that certain people may abuse alcohol during the matches which might make them “problematic.” Then there are the social justice warriors stating that alcohol has ruined many lives and families.
Other fans are still upset that Qatar does not officially welcome LGBTQ+ fans, and claimed that the Middle Eastern country has “lied” and changed their decisions at the very last minute. However, other football fans responded that sexuality is not a concern when it comes to watching sports.
It is unclear who the fans are angrier at. Under the Stephen King tweet, anger is directed to both Qatar and FIFA. Then there were some that accused King of using substances to write his popular novels.
Regardless of what fans are saying, the main priority is that the matches are going smoothly and footballers are scoring for their respective countries.
More stories related to the FIFA World Cup here.