World Cup beer piled up as Budweiser come up with new plan

World Cup: Fans celebrate as Budweiser bar opens in FanFest

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FIFA World Cup sponsors Budweiser have come up with a new solution to shift huge amounts of stock that could end up going to waste in Qatar. Tournament organisers moved to ban the sale of alcohol from World Cup stadiums at the last minute, which has left the drinks company in an awkward situation. 

Alcohol regulations have been a hot topic in the lead-up to the World Cup. Qatar is a ‘dry’ nation with beer and wine expensive and hard to come by, but chiefs hinted that rules could be relaxed to make it more affordable for fans during the four-week period. 

As the kick-off date edged closer, however, it became clear that those promises would not be fulfilled. A 500ml glass of Budweiser will set supporters back a whopping £11.60 and it will only be available in designated fan parks after the Qatari royal family pressured organisers to ban the sale of beer in stadiums. 

Despite FIFA and Budweiser being bound by a multi-million dollar contract, the governing body complied with the host nation’s request, leaving thousands upon thousands of cans piled up in a warehouse. 

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Huge tankers had already made the 8000-mile trek to Qatar as pallets were shipped in from England and Wales. Upon learning that beer would be banned at games, Budweiser put out a Tweet which read: “Well, this is awkward…” before it was promptly deleted. 

That was followed up on Saturday with a picture of Budweiser crates piled high in a warehouse, captioned: “New Day, New Tweet. Winning Country gets the Buds. Who will get them?”

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There are several teams in with a real chance of winning international football’s most prestigious trophy this time around, with Brazil and Argentina particularly fancied. France come into the tournament as the reigning champions but a host of injuries, including one to Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, may have dented their chances of repeating the feat in Qatar. 

Some supporters are quietly confident about England’s chances of going all the way, having reached the semi-finals in 2018 and the Euro 2020 final last year. Newcastle United star Kieran Trippier, who is likely to start at right-back against Iran on Monday, believes that the Three Lions should not be scared to admit their true aspirations. 

“We all feel confident as a group, we’ve got a fantastic 26-man squad – unbelievable talent in there, a mixture of experience and youth,” he told The Telegraph. “We shouldn’t be going into a tournament saying we should be scared of saying we want to win it. That shouldn’t be the case, we should go there with that winning mindset and don’t be afraid to say it.

“If you look at nearly every player in the England squad, they are having to deal with that pressure every day. They are all playing in massive competitions anyway – Champions League, Europa League. So they are all under that pressure anyway and all dealing with it – coming away with England should be no different.”

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