On Friday, football’s world governing body FIFA announced beer would not be sold to fans around any of the eight World Cup stadiums following discussions with the hosts.
Ecuador fans were heard chanting “Queremos cerveza” – which means “We want beer” – during their nation’s opening game of the World Cup against host country Qatar. The chant was in response to Qatar’s decision to ban the sale of alcohol in stadiums during the FIFA tournament.
A video going viral on social media showed Ecuadorian fans chanting in the stands, “Queremos cerveza, queremos cerveza!” or “We want beer!” as their team defeated Qatar, 2-0, on Sunday at the Al Bayt Stadium.
“Ecuadorian fans chanting “Queremos Cerveza!” meaning “We want beer!” during the opening world cup match in Qatar. Qatar U-turned 2 days before the start of the tournament in banning the sale of alcohol in regular seating sections of stadiums,” read the caption of a Reddit post.
Watch the video below:
Ecuador fans: "We want beer, we want beer!" LMAOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/kOa6nXSD03
— M•A•J (@Ultra_Suristic) November 20, 2022
On Friday, just two days before the start of the tournament, the Qatari royal family made the decision to ban alcohol inside the stadiums. Football’s world governing body FIFA announced beer would not be sold to fans around any of the eight World Cup stadiums following discussions with the hosts.
As per reports, fans are able to buy alcohol in fan zones, and individuals are limited to just four drinks each. Alcohol is also available in hospitality boxes at the stadium.
FIFA said that beer sales would be focused on fan zone and licensed venues, “removing sales points of beer from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters”. It gave no reason for the surprise decision but media reports said there had been an intervention by Qatar’s ruling family.
Following the announcement of the decision, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Saturday that World Cup fans can survive for three hours a day without beer after sales were banned around stadiums. “I think personally if for three hours a day you cannot drink a beer, you will survive,” he told his opening press conference in Doha. “The same applies in France, Spain, Scotland,” Mr Infantino added.
