In a surprising last-minute twist … booze sales at World Cup stadiums in Qatar have now been banned.
FIFA announced the news early Friday morning — saying despite initial agreements between the soccer org. and the host country to sell beer and liquor where the championship football will go down, they’ve now reversed course.
Qatar — a country where the sale of alcohol is highly restricted — had been willing to allow Budweiser to sell its boozy products at games … albeit in less visible and less accessible locations.
But, amid late pressure to ban it entirely, FIFA explained there’s now been a change of plans.
“Following discussions between host country authorities and FIFA,” a spokesperson for the org. said Friday, “a decision has been made to focus the sale of alcoholic beverages on the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, removing the sales points of beer from Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium perimeters.”
Budweiser — which reportedly paid $75 million to be the beer sponsor of the W.C. — didn’t exactly react well to the news.
“Well, this is awkward,” the company said in a now-deleted tweet.
FIFA did say, however, that the sale of Bud’s non-alcoholic Bud Zero product will still be allowed — so, small victory there?
The games officially start on Sunday … getcha water ready?!
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