If the consumption of alcohol is prohibited in Doha, it is possible to obtain it by going to the right places, with the complicity of the authorities.
The many foreign supporters still present in Qatar, however, are satisfied with a more sober and less drunken atmosphere in the stadiums, even the English.
From our Special Envoy in Doha,
You have to imagine two swinging doors verging on grey-black at the exit of the 7th floor of a hotel in Doha, stamped with the name “Rock City”, written in gothic font to accentuate the cliché.
Behind, a desk.
Still behind, a woman dressed in a suit, of the austere type.
Rock City is a bar where alcohol flows freely, and you don't walk into a mill.
“Your Qatari phone number and your passport.
We hold it out, she scans it, like at the airport.
The entry into the matter is not very warm, to make you miss the dodgy bouncers of Parisian nightclubs.
Inside, on the other hand, nothing abnormal, with the exception of a somewhat old-fashioned decor, very Las Vegas, very nouveau riche, in short, very Qatar.
But the main thing is there: a giant screen on which the matches of the World Cup are broadcast and a wide choice of alcoholic beverages.
Everything is there.
Whiskey, cocktails, vodka, by the glass or by the bottle at ridiculously expensive prices – count 400 euros for an 18-year-old Chivas – because of a 100% “sin” tax.
We will opt for a beer, the lost sesame of this Mondial 2022. 12 euros per pint.
It's a lot, too much, even.
But it's still one euro less than in the rare FIFA zones to have escaped the plot twist on the sale of alcohol around the stadiums, such as the Corniche Fan Festival.
“We are English, we will always find beer”
Arrived from Kenya a year and a half ago, Jack provides security around the Budweiser stand, which opens at 6:30 p.m. (rather 45 that day).
Given the docility of the crowd, his job really boils down to envying the customers.
“I would take one on the sly from time to time, but have you seen the prices?
It's not within my means.
So he tastes with his eyes the foam that proudly protrudes from the goblets and observes those whose lips will soon be impregnated with it.
Mostly English.
“Them, if they don't drink, they get sick, he laughs.
But you have to come on match nights to understand.
Today they are not there.
»
They are found even less in the “sober” areas of the Corniche or the souk.
After investigation, we learn that they hang out a lot at the Arcadia Electronic Festival, towards Al Wakra (south of Doha), where we also find the Three Lions hotel.
And beers.
Adam and Emily, a young English couple, took a three-day pass for the event, where the hops flow from 10am until 5am.
“They can ban whatever they want, we're English, we'll always find beer.
»
This self-sacrifice is named after John, whose improbable booze hunt ended in a sheikh's palace.
“He showed us his lions, his monkeys, his birds, told the star of an evening.
They really made us feel welcome.
Thinking about it, we may have missed such a fortune by kindly refusing to get into the car of a Qatari during a previous report.
The man, in his forties, promised to show us an area full of bars “not far from the 974 stadium”.
WATCH: Whilst on a quest to find beer, these English World Cup fans found themselves instead at the home of a Qatari sheikh's son, petting lions pic.twitter.com/j2J6qxcqNs
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) November 21, 2022
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The booze treasure map of Doha
Not all beer drinking heroes have a cape.
And not all of them are wealthy Qatari heirs.
Not all of them are even from here.
Ed Ball, for example, is American.
This aerospace salesman returned home to Seattle on December 2, leaving behind a map of bars where you can drink alcohol in Doha.
The company initiated two months before the World Cup has grown on the eve of the tournament under the effect of prohibition around the stadiums.
“At the beginning, I had a list of 20 to 30 places, he tells us.
I knew there were more.
So I researched all the hotels in Doha.
From there, I went to each website, one by one, looking for bars and restaurants that sold alcohol.
It took more than 100 hours to create this map of which I am the only administrator.
»
His alcoholic One Piece has exceeded half a million views, enough to reap a thank you or two along the way.
“I had nice feedback from Mexicans, Australians, Welsh and English.
»
The one place neither Ed nor the boldest of Brits can get to is called the Qatar Distribution Company, better known as QDC.
It is the sole importer and distributor of alcohol in Qatar.
A giant surface surrounded by barbed wire where alcohol and pork are sold subject to a permit granted by the State and an annual contribution, with a ban on consuming the products elsewhere than at home or exceeding the monthly ceiling of 520 euros.
This prime location is restricted to Qatari residents, although access has been extended to World Cup sponsors, members of competing national teams and the media.
The process remains dissuasive.
The QDC will refer us to FIFA to negotiate a simple visit.
For lack of time, we will abdicate.
The benefits of World Zero
Back to the fanfest.
After leaving Jack to his dreams of drinking, we come across an English supporter sitting alone on a concrete block.
He is expecting friends and seems to have given up on the idea of a boozy World Cup.
“I've always drunk before games, around the stadium.
I was going there hours before for that, because that was part of the thing.
There, I would have to drink and go to the stadium at the last minute to be drunk during the first half.
It does not make sense.
So I don't drink.
And basically, it's not so bad.
It's different.
»
Without alcohol, would the party be less crazy?
More peaceful, in any case, according to a theory in vogue in the streets of Doha and on the networks.
Mark Roberts, head of Britain's Football Police, praised the exemplary behavior of England and Wales fans and said he had not documented any arrests or incidents among those fans.
But the latter wants to be cautious on the issue of alcohol.
“It would be a mistake to attribute good behavior entirely to alcohol restrictions, but I think it helped to some extent.
Far be it from us to glorify alcohol, but it is hard to imagine the English celebrating a second star with Bud zero.
So we have a deal to offer them: lose Saturday to find this beloved beer.
At the Blues the half,
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