England fans will be flocking to the World Cup now the Three Lions have booked their place in Qatar.
Gareth Southgate’s side will be among the favourites in football’s biggest competition, which will be the first to be held in an Arab nation.
England fans, after discovering their group stage opponents, will fly out to support the Three Lions will be reminded that they’re visiting an Islamic country and must respect their rules and customs.
With that in mind, will supporters have the chance to have a celebratory beer if football finally comes home? talkSPORT.com has the info…
World Cup 2022: Can fans drink in Qatar?
Alcohol isn’t illegal in Qatar, but there is zero tolerance for drinking in public and being drunk in public is a crime.
Alcohol is available to buy for over 21-year-olds from licensed hotel restaurants and bars.
There is also a single state-controlled off-licence, but any visiting fan should be aware they need a permit to be able to buy alcohol from it.
The rules were expected to be somewhat relaxed during the World Cup with organisers working on a deal to make alcohol more readily available.
However, it has now been confirmed that fans won’t be able to buy alcohol in stadiums, while sales before and after the match will also be limited to strict times.
Plus, if England fans are caught smuggling cocaine into the country, they could face the death penalty.
Qatar is very strict on the use of drugs and there are no exceptions for foreigners.
It is more likely they will be arrested and thrown in prison, but the threat of death is very real for those supporters who try and smuggle cocaine into Qatar for the World Cup.
World Cup 2022: Will alcohol be served in stadiums?
As part of the relaxed rules, alcohol will be available to fans in stadiums in Qatar, but so far only to those purchasing hospitality packages.
Jaime Byrom, the contractor behind the premium offerings, told RTE: “It is our expectation that people will be able to [drink].
“We expect that, depending on the decisions taken by others – we will of course always comply with whatever regulations, whatever laws are decreed – certainly at this point in time we are planning to be in a position to serve alcohol in our hospitality programme.”
As of yet, there has been no ruling on the availability of alcohol in stadiums for standard ticket-holders.
However, Qatar experimented with a ‘wet fan zone’ during the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup that was ultimately won by Liverpool.
Fans were permitted to consume alcoholic beverages at a site just outside Doha and the successful trial could lead to similar sites emerging as well.
World Cup 2022: How much will alcohol cost?
A pint of beer in Doha, where group stage matches will be played, costs around £10 due to the Muslim country invoking sin taxes on alcohol.
Yet organisers are also working on subsidising drink as well as making sure it is more readily available for fans during the tournament.
“Alcohol is not part of our culture,” Nasser al-Khater, the chief executive officer of the 2022 World Cup, admitted in 2019.
“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.”
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