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Ahead of the opening match, tournament organizers are struggling to balance backlogs ordered through Qatar’s tough officials with the interests of FIFA’s title sponsor, Budweiser.
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By Tariq Panja
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The message came from the highest levels of the state of Qatar: beer tents will have to be moved and there will be no discussion about it.
With only a few days until the opening match of the World Cup, Qatar organizers have been working in recent days to move the Budweiser-branded beer stations to 8 stadiums after a sudden request from 3 other people familiar with the expired replacement said they arrived internally. The royal family of the country.
The other people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not legal to discuss the main sensitive points of tournament planning. However, World Cup officials gave the impression of verifying the adjustments in a statement. Plan until Saturday, 8 days before the first match of the tournament.
The decision to move the beer stations gave the impression of being rooted in fears that the heavy presence of alcohol in the stadiums during the month of the World Cup would disrupt the local population and thus pose a potential protection issue. But he also highlighted a challenge that hampered arrangements for the Arab world’s first World Cup, and the tournament is expected to be debatable in Qatar, a conservative Muslim country where access to alcohol is tightly controlled.
Since FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, awarded the rights to Qatar in December 2010, tournament organizers have struggled to balance the obligations they pledged to fulfill, adding alcohol promotion and offering a promotional area for Budweiser, one of FIFA’s biggest tournaments. Sponsors: They fear being disappointed or alienated by a national electorate that is irritated by some of the cultural conflicts inherent in holding a historically beer-soaked occasion in a Muslim nation.
Alcohol is not banned in Qatar, but most visitors can only buy it in the bars of designated hotels. FIFA and Qatari officials had struggled for years to devise a plan for the World Cup, where beer had been flowing for generations, before deciding that alcoholic beverages would be allowed to be sold within an open-air security perimeter of the venues but not inside the stadium’s own bowls.
Still, decisions restricting Budweiser’s logo symbol or its ability to sell its products can complicate FIFA’s appointments with a difficult partner, not to mention contractual appointments between the brewery, the governing framework and Qatar World Cup organizers.
Budweiser will pay about $75 million to marry the World Cup every four years. But a World Cup in Qatar has created hurdles and sparked persistent tensions between the company and FIFA over issues ranging from the point of sale deal in Qatar to negotiation. the delivery of materials to the country.
What is the World Cup? The quadrennial event pits the best national soccer teams against each other for the name of world champion. Here’s a preview of the 2022 men’s tournament:
Where is it located? This year’s host is Qatar, which beat the United States and Japan in 2010 to win the right to host the tournament. Whether it is a fair festival is still in dispute.
When is it? The tournament opened on November 20, when Qatar faced Ecuador. During the next two weeks, 4 matches will be played maximum days. The tournament ends with the final on December 18.
Is a winter World Cup normal? No. La World Cup is held regularly in July. But in 2015, FIFA concluded that summer temperatures in Qatar can have unpleasant consequences and agreed to move the tournament to the bearable months of November and December.
How many groups compete? Thirty-two. Qatar qualified as hosts and, after years of matches, the other 31 groups got the right to come and play. Meet the groups here.
How does the tournament work? The 32 organizations are divided into 8 organizations out of four. In the opening phase, the team plays against all other organizations in its organization once. The two most sensible organizations advance to the knockout rounds. After that, the World Cup is a knockout tournament.
How can I watch the World Cup in the United States?The tournament will air on Fox and FS1 in English, and on Telemundo in Spanish. You can stream it live on Peacock or via streaming offered by Fox and FS1. Here’s how to watch each and every game.
When will the games take place? Qatar is 3 hours ahead of London, 8 hours ahead of New York and 11 hours ahead of Los Angeles. That there will be kick-offs before dawn on the U. S. East Coast. UU for some games and the afternoon starts at 10 p. m. m. games in Qatar.
Still have questions? We have more here.
Budweiser’s contract with FIFA only provides him with exclusive sales, but also obliges the company to provide gigantic quantities of beer to FIFA partners and guests.
What we before using unnamed resources. Do resources know the information?What is your motivation for telling us?Can we corroborate the information? Even with those questions met, the Times uses anonymous resources as a last resort. The journalist and at least one editor know the identity of the source.
Budweiser said he was only informed of the changes through FIFA on Saturday. The company is “working with FIFA to move dealership outlets to the right locations,” a Budweiser spokeswoman told The New York Times in a statement. The spokeswoman declined to disclose whether the company was obtaining its rights under its contracts, saying only that “our goal is to provide the most productive visitor experience imaginable in the new circumstances. “
A representative of the World Cup organizing committee issued a matrix that he said was on behalf of the tournament and FIFA, which downplayed the changes. “Operational plans are being finalized,” he says, adding that “this has a direct effect on the location of certain fan areas. “They did not mention beer and noted that “pay hours and number of payment destinations” remained the same at the 8 stadiums.
The sudden repositioning in alcohol sales is in line with the ever-changing preparation for the 2022 World Cup. Work on entire hotels and hotels to accommodate the estimated one million visitors continues even this week, and repositioning, large and small, was done even as the first games loomed. In August, for example, the date of the opening match – a milestone that has been maintained for years – was suddenly brought forward by one day on the eve of celebrations and a global publicity crusade to mark the remaining hundred days. .
The installation of liquor services in the stadiums was underway during the past month. But last week, perhaps on Friday, a message leaked that one of the leaders of Qatar’s most sensible royal circle had called for beer concessions to be moved to less problematic locations.
Staff, according to others familiar with the plans, were informed that the measure had followed protective advice. On a day-to-day basis making tournament plans- he advised him non-negotiable.
On Sunday, members dressed in yellow protective vests can be seen carrying beer tents decorated with the Budweiser logo to new locations.
Qatari officials reportedly called for the tents to be removed from other concession points, adding those owned by longtime FIFA partner McDonald’s, as well as product stalls and other sponsor themed activities.
Since they began bidding for the World Cup in 2009, Qatari officials have said beer will be more available at the tournament in Qatar, but will be sold and fed on terms that respect local customs. A beer sales experiment around the Club 2019 World Cup ended with combined results.
For this event, Qatari officials built a fan zone on the outskirts of Doha where enthusiasts could drink freely during daylight hours. The enthusiasts were then bussed to the stadium, an adventure that lasted about forty-five minutes.
Organizers have also created destinations for the month-long World Cup.
Budweiser has been ubiquitous at the World Cup since its first registration as a FIFA sponsor a year before the 1986 Mexico Cup. Since then, it has been a reliable source of profit for the organization, though it was among a giant number of FIFA Partners who cautiously voiced their concerns in 2014 amid a spate of accusations that members of FIFA’s control at the time had been bribed to choose Qatar to host the 2022 tournament. the moment. ” We expect FIFA to take all mandatory measures in this regard. “
FIFA’s leadership was occasionally removed, but the World Cup remained with Qatar and Budweiser planned accordingly. It announced plans to use the occasion to sell and advertise its comfort drinks along with its beer at express venues.
Now, even this plan is safe. An official involved in the procedure said FIFA officials agreed to move beer shops to darker locations, fearing that failure to do so would risk shutting down Budweiser’s concessions entirely.
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