A video showing fans at the Al Bayt Stadium screaming in sync has gone viral on social media. Are they cheering their teams or is it something else? Despite unclear audio, reports claim that the ''We want beer'' chant echoed in demand to lift the beer ban.
As soon as Qatar lost the initial football game from the tournament, while playing against Ecuador, fans from the winning team sought organisers to allow the sale of beer and its consumption.
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Meanwhile, in yet another video gone viral, we could see fans trying to enter the enclosed area that contains a big-screen television for viewing matches, places to buy beer, and little else.
The beer ban imposed two days before the start of the tournament was the latest controversial snag for a global event already under scrutiny for Qatar's human rights record and the emirates' frantic push to ready the nation for the most compact World Cup in history.
Qatar, like Saudi Arabia, follows an ultraconservative version of Islam known as Wahhabism. Yet the country allows alcohol to be served in hotel bars and at a FIFA Fan Zone in the country. Already, some in the country have criticized what they view as Western cultural extravaganzas of the tournament - likely leading to the stadium beer ban.
(With agency inputs)
