‘Diversity wins, but the unity fostered by World Cup travel may be lost on Qatar’

Simon Calder, also called The Man Who Pays His Means, has been writing about journey for The Unbiased since 1994. In his weekly opinion column, he explores a key journey problem – and what it means for you.

“They suppose it’s all sober – it’s now.” The entrance web page of Saturday’s Each day Mirror invoked the spirit of the 1966 World Cup last to explain Qatar’s injury-time choice to ban alcohol round stadiums on the 2022 event, which begins this weekend within the Gulf state.

The primary rule of worldwide journey is to respect the foundations and traditions of your host nation. When that state occurs to be the host nation of the largest event in soccer, although, a level of compromise is suitable.

In 2010, soccer’s governing physique, Fifa, awarded the World Cup 2022 to Qatar, deciding to compress a contest that has historically thrived on a multiplicity of host cities right into a tiny thumb of desert on the north aspect of the Arabian peninsula. As soon as the preliminary shock had worn off, the primary query from journalists throughout the game and journey spectrum was: “Will followers have the ability to drink?”

That query is extra essential than it might sound. World Cup tournaments carry humanity collectively. The motion on the pitch is simply the beginning. The worldwide gathering of followers earlier than and after a match, sometimes with beers in hand, is a pleasure. It makes spending a small fortune on journey, rooms and tickets each 4 years really feel nicely worthwhile.

Fifa led us to consider Qatar would quickly ease its strict guidelines in opposition to consuming alcohol in public. Simply final Monday officers launched the “Fan Guide”. It assures supporters they may have the ability to purchase beer (albeit solely the insipid American brew generally known as Budweiser) within the stadium perimeter from three hours earlier than kick-off to an hour after the ultimate whistle.

By Friday that promise had been kicked into contact.

As a conservative Islamic nation, Qatar is totally entitled to ban alcohol. Supporters ought to have the ability to alter to Arabian etiquette for a couple of days or even weeks. And as one sanguine fan declared: “If you need to do with out a beer, Budweiser is an effective one to go with out.”

But the last-minute beer ban is troubling. In worldwide journey, Qatar accommodates numerous views on alcohol. The state airline, Qatar Airways, is unquestionably one of many least “dry” carriers on this planet. The inflight breakfast on my Saturday flight to Doha included a alternative of beer, wine or Scotch to scrub down the inevitable omelette (I opted for tea).

Taking alcohol into Qatar is against the law. However for outbound or transit passengers Doha’s Hamad Worldwide Airport features a gigantic duty-free store. (Passing by this month? There’s a “purchase two, get one free” promotion on bottles of Stolichnaya vodka.)

But the authorities selected to show off the stadium beer faucets though a giant brewer has paid £68m for the appropriate to promote the stuff at matches. It’s sobering to think about what different agreements is likely to be overturned.

Identical-sex relationships are unlawful, and earlier than the event a Qatari World Cup ambassador, Khalid Salman, described homosexuality as “harm within the thoughts”. The International Workplace says: “Host authorities have said that ‘everyone seems to be welcome’ on the World Cup. They’ve publicly confirmed that there shall be no restrictions on non-married mates or {couples} (together with LGBT) staying in the identical room.”

However after the alcohol U-turn Qatar’s rulers would possibly but retract the reassurance and impose home guidelines on homosexual guests, together with three years in jail for “main, instigating or seducing a male in any approach to commit sodomy”.

The slogan on the Lufthansa Airbus A330 flying the German workforce to the World Cup commendably declares: “Variety wins.” It does, in soccer as in life, however I concern the unity fostered by World Cup journey shall be misplaced on Qatar.