England fan fury as alcohol will be BANNED at 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia for first time ever
BOOZE will be banned at the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia, its ambassador to the UK announced yesterday.
The showpiece event will be the first Fifa tournament to be dry — with no exemption for hotels and fan zones.
Only soft drinks will be served in stadiums and anyone caught smuggling in booze risks a public flogging.
Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud confirmed the nation would not be relaxing its strict Islamic laws.
He said: “Plenty of fun can be had without alcohol.
“It’s not 100 per cent necessary and if you want to drink after you leave, you’re welcome to, but at the moment we don’t have alcohol.”
At the 2022 World Cup in neighbouring Muslim nation Qatar, fans could drink alcohol at hotels which had applied for liquor licences.
But Prince Khalid told LBC radio: “There is no alcohol at all, rather like our weather, it’s a dry country.
“Everyone has their own culture. We’re happy to accommodate people within the boundaries of our culture but we don’t want to change our culture for someone else.
“It is not a Saudi event, it is a world event and, to a large extent, we will welcome everyone who wants to come.”
Fan Tim Bailey hit out on X: “Their country, their rules. But why the f*** would anyone want to go there anyway?”
Another supporter said: “Weird . . . they always want everyone else to change their culture for them.”
Saudi Arabia has been accused of sportswashing to cover up its appalling human rights record.
In 2023 when the desert nation launched its 2034 campaign, a Saudi diplomatic source told The Sun: “Football fans will be allowed to drink if Saudi Arabia wins the vote.
“It has not been publicly discussed but is an accepted fact.
“Alcohol is subject to a total ban now but will be sold in restricted areas — as is the case in other Muslim nations
“We acknowledge that serious mistakes have been made in the past and want the rest of the world to understand we are changing.”
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