Soccer fans who travelled thousands of kilometers to get a glimpse of the sport's most prestigious event savored their first sips of beer at the launch of a fan festival on Saturday, a rare place where they can drink alcohol at the World Cup.
In a last minute U-turn two days before the tournament's opening match, international soccer governing body FIFA said on Friday that alcoholic beer would not be sold at Qatar's World Cup stadiums.
Budweiser, a major World Cup sponsor, had been set to exclusively sell alcoholic beer within the ticketed perimeter surrounding each of the eight stadiums three hours before and one hour after each game during the month-long event.