"Alcohol will be available for fans in the 2022 World Cup stadiums" - Nasser Al Khater says Qatar focusing on fan experience

• Lusail Stadium set to be officially launched on September 9 with the Lusail Super Cup
• World Cup kicks off on November 20, 2022
• Fan zones and hotels will also serve alcohol during the World Cup

WHAT HAPPENED? There have been concerns that the fans attending the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will not have alcohol availabe to them readily inside the stadiums. These fears had grown since Qatar does not look too kindly on public drinking as a country. However, CEO of the 2022 World Cup, Nasser Al Khater, has endeavoured to put those fears at rest. Though Qatar had announced plans to sell alcohol in fan zones and licensed hotels, this is the first time they are announcing plans to sell alcohol within the stadiums.

WHAT THEY SAID? "There will be alcohol in the stadium. We are of course working like any other World Cup where this is something usual and 2022 World Cup in Qatar is not different from any of the World Cup. However, there won't be alcohol for a certain time during matchdays. The reason for that is it (matches) is going to attract a lot of families and children and therefore we want to give them an opportunity to be in alcohol free zone for a certain part of the day and then for later parts of the day fans who are coming to enjoy the game they will have alcohol readily available. This does not apply to other fan zones and hotels that serve alcohol, they will do business as usual."

QSC

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Nasser Al Khater also spoke about the experience Qatar 2022 will offer fans later this year, highlighting that the country has tried to look at aspects of the experience every type of fans attending the World Cup will look to have.

"In terms of the experience, we have looked at the journey (of all type of people), whether it’s a member of the media, whether it’s a fan, whether it’s an official. We have taken into consideration their experiences. We believe that the World Cup will be a unique experience for all of them - the weather and the fact that it is pretty much in one city where all the fans will be together. Looking at the different entertainment zones, we want people, once they go back, to summarize it to be an amazing World Cup," he said.

WHAT NEXT? Qatar are all set to officially inaugurate the Lusail Stadium which will host the 2022 World Cup final on September 9.