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World Cup fans ‘will survive without beer’: Fifa president speaks out on alcohol ban at stadiums
Infantino said the alcohol sale ban at stadiums was made jointly by Qatar officials and tournament officials
Fifa president Gianni Infantino downplayed Qatar's last minute ban on the sale of alcohol at World Cup stadiums as nothing more than a brief inconvenience to spectators.
“If this is the biggest problem we have, I’ll sign that (agreement),” Infantino said Saturday.
Infantino said the alcohol sale ban at stadiums was made jointly by Qatar officials and Fifa.
"We tried until the end to see whether it was possible," Infantino said of allowing alcohol sales. "If for 3 hours a day you cannot drink a beer, you will survive. Maybe there is a reason why in France, in Spain, in Scotland, alcohol is banned in stadiums. Maybe they are more intelligent us, having thought maybe we should be doing that.”
Spectators can drink alcoholic beer in the evenings in “the Fifa Fan Festival,” a designated party area that also offers live music and activities.
The World Cup begins Sunday with an opening match between host country Qatar and Ecuador, and when Qatar made its pitch to host the tournament, the country agreed to Fifa’s requirements of selling alcohol in stadiums. The alcohol plans were only released 11 weeks before kickoff and then changed on Friday.
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Previous World Cup hosts have been asked to make concessions. For the 2014 tournament, Brazil was forced to change a law to allow alcohol sales in stadiums — but the same cultural issues were not at play.
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