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Along with the bars, there may be the liquor retailer the place non-Muslim residents and guests can store after making use of for a government-issued licence. Positioned subsequent to an Indian college in Doha’s dusty Abu Hamour neighbourhood, it’s run by Qatar Distribution, a state-owned enterprise below the umbrella of Qatar Airways, which holds unique rights to distribute alcohol and pork within the nation.
The shop – presently the one one promoting liquor in Qatar – operates on an appointment system, harkening again to the strict coronavirus rules that ruled this nation earlier than simply earlier than the World Cup.
On a latest go to, guards twice checked an Related Press reporter’s identifications and appointments. Razor wire tops the compound’s excessive partitions, which bar the general public from a peek inside. Indicators warn that any abuse aimed on the guards can lead to an alcohol licence being revoked. Empty silver beer kegs are piled up within the automotive park.
On the finish of a chlorine-scented walkway, clients attain the doorway to the shop. Inside, the cabinets and stands are stocked with bottles of wine largely operating from US$12.50 as much as US$45. A litre of Absolut vodka goes for US$42, whereas a litre of Jack Daniels whiskey units a client again US$70. A 24-pack of normal Budweiser cans prices almost US$52.
A small part of the shop provides frozen pork pepperoni pizzas, slabs of bacon, Spam and cans of pork and beans.
Clients crammed their carts or carried bottles and cans of their palms, checking towards buying lists or texting relations to double verify what was wanted. A number of wore Fifa passes for the event round their necks.
Exterior the store, a 31-year-old British lady who works as a schoolteacher in Qatar, crammed the boot of her automotive. She declined to supply her title, given the connotations consuming can carry in Qatari society, however dismissed criticism surrounding consuming and the event.
“It’s actually not that large of a deal,” she mentioned of the licensing system in Qatar. “It’s like going to the grocery store – for alcohol.”
She added that she thought the restrictions on gross sales for the matches additionally made sense. “I’m British. I do know what it’s wish to to be round drunk folks on a regular basis.”
Throughout the broader Persian Gulf, alcohol stays banned in Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the sheikhdom of Sharjah within the United Arab Emirates. Consuming alcohol is taken into account haram, or forbidden, in Islam. Imams level to a verse within the Koran calling wine “the work of Devil”.
However the area as an entire has an extended historical past with alcohol, itself an Arabic phrase. The eighth century poet Abu Nawas even was recognized for his khamriyyat or “wine poems”.
Each alcohol and pork face a 100 per cent import responsibility. Qatar says it makes use of the tax income to enhance healthcare, infrastructure, training and different public providers.
Guests should not allowed to convey alcohol into the nation. Many resorts are dry and prohibit friends from bringing alcohol to their rooms.
Ball’s on-line map of bars in Qatar has been considered over 875,000 occasions. An accompanying Twitter account reveals him downing two pints of beer in 10 seconds.
“For me, consuming is rather like consuming. It simply goes together with the tradition,” Ball advised the AP after returning house to Seattle, the place he works for Boeing. “I do know it’s not a part of Qatar … but it surely’s additionally a part of the World Cup. One of many greatest sponsors is Budweiser so it simply goes to point out you it type of goes hand in hand.”
Bars in Qatar sometimes scan IDs of these heading in, with many engaged on a voucher system throughout the event to verify followers spend not less than certain quantity.
On Saturday evening, a gaggle of Russians screamed expletives on the US staff throughout its match with the Netherlands as they downed photographs and posed for images with servers at Doha’s Irish Harp.
Dermot O’Callaghan, a 66-year-old soccer fan from Dublin, Eire, loved a a lot calmer pint on the bar, swaying alongside to the Cuban band Chicas Melao.
“It’s very fulfilling, you will get a drink right here if you would like within the evenings,” O’Callaghan mentioned. “You do have a cohort of followers roaming round, in search of a drink.”
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