Football fans young and old enjoy the game in Qatar.
After a spectacular preliminary round – one of the most shocking in World Cup history – football fans are flocking to Qatar to rave about the venue and transport. But they admit to being frustrated with the stadium’s spectator area.
“The atmosphere was phenomenal,” said Iain from Wales, who also traveled to Germany for the 2006 World Cup.
“Argentina against Mexico is one of the best football matches I have ever seen.”
Iain is one of the many football fans who take advantage of the proximity of the stadiums to watch as many matches as possible. He could watch eight games in 10 days.
“The fast train went well even after a big game where there were 88,000 spectators,” added Iain.
“We had to walk a lot, but there was a good atmosphere in the crowd.”
Brazilian fan Felipe agrees public transport is great, but says his wife feels “pressure” about wearing shorts in a traditionally conservative Muslim country.
And while he hopes alcoholic beverages will be more widely available, he says this World Cup is no less good than the two previous World Cups he has attended in Russia and Brazil.
Entry refused
Even though matches in stadiums and on public transport go off without a hitch, some football fans admit to having problems with entertainment outside the gridiron.
“It’s a fantastic event,” said Francesco, an Argentinian football fan who lives in Qatar.
“But the spectator area was poorly laid out and I don’t really know what happened.”
He was one of hundreds of fans who were unable to enter various “fan zones” on several nights due to issues with tickets and official websites.
A number of fans have complained that they made the trip in vain.
“It’s terrible,” said a German fan, one of hundreds who couldn’t get into the Hayya Fan Zone in Doha and missed the evening’s game.
These official fan zones were highlighted throughout the tournament.
Some are the only official World Cup venues allowed to sell beer, following a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages outside stadiums except in VIP areas.
The German fan, who declined to be named, added that he walked 7km after watching a game at Lusail Stadium. When he arrived, he found he couldn’t enter Hayya’s area.
Another football fan, Amr from Canada, said he was from Wakra, a town south of Doha, 30 km away.
“I didn’t know the tickets were sold out. If I had known, I wouldn’t have come.”
Frustrated fans
Football fans admit they are frustrated because official site says that entering the spectator area only requires an “entrance fee and ticket activation” with no further explanation or links to third-party sites that sell tickets for the area.
The official website also states that the fan zone offers “unique food and drink options”, which some visitors confuse with alcohol.
However, on the official Qatar 2022 website, it is unclear which fan zones serve beer and which do not.
Football fans admit they just found out that tickets for the fan zone were sold out when they arrived.
After frustrated fans said they were having trouble finding correct information on the official website, the BBC contacted Qatar 2022 to ask if the problem with the ticket had been clarified on the website.
The BBC also asked if football fans were notified when fan zone tickets sold out and information on areas selling alcohol would be updated.
In response to this request, the media team of the tournament’s Supreme Committee sent an internal presentation document which did not contain any information on ticket conditions, ticket sales and beer outlets.
FIFA did not respond to a request for comment after being contacted by the Qatar 2022 host team.
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