Fans to be banned from drinking alcohol in stadiums at Saudi World Cup

Football fans will be banned from drinking alcohol in stadiums at the 2034 World Cup after last week’s controversial award of the tournament to Saudi Arabia.

Fifa has not addressed the alcohol issue publicly but senior sources have told the Guardian there is no question of beer being sold at matches. Unlike in many other Muslim countries alcohol sales remain prohibited even in luxury hotels in Saudi Arabia.

Alcohol was banned in the country by King Ibn Saud in 1952. Since January one shop in Riyadh has sold it, though only to non-Muslim diplomats under strict controls and quotas.

Fifa sources said they had learned lessons from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was pressured to accept beer sales in stadiums only for the ruling Al-Thani family to put their foot down and scrap the plan two days before the tournament started.

Tens of thousands of kegs of Budweiser were removed from stadiums in a move that cost Fifa about £40m in compensation owed to its sponsor AB InBev, the owner of Budweiser. Only Bud Zero and soft drinks were sold at World Cup stadiums, although beer was made available in one Fifa fan zone, with a pint of Budweiser costing £12.

Despite that episode AB InBev has extended its commercial partnership with Fifa, which dates from 1986, until the 2026 World Cup. The company has also agreed to sponsor next year’s Club World Cup, and during negotiations is understood to have asked for clarity on Fifa’s plans for 2034.

Fifa has indicated that alcohol sales in stadiums are not on the agenda but with a decade to go the position regarding fan zones and hotels is less clear. Saudi Arabia is a far more conservative country than Qatar, where the capital city, Doha, contains several pubs and alcohol sales are permitted in upmarket hotels.

Fifa sources told the Guardian there were no plans to pressure the Saudi government to relax their laws. The Riyadh shop selling alcohol was opened as an attempt to clamp down on illegal alcohol sales by diplomats who have smuggled bottles of spirits in the country rather than as a first step to making alcohol legal.

The Saudi government has an extremely close relationship with Fifa, which is reliant on it for financial support. The state oil company Aramco is paying Fifa £320m as part of a four-year sponsorship deal and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is set to invest in the streaming company Dazn, which has paid Fifa £800m for global TV rights for the Club World Cup.