Why should alcohol be allowed at the World Cup in Saudi Arabia?

13 February 2025, 07:58 | Updated: 14 February 2025, 17:23

Some people appear to be outraged that fans won’t be served alcohol at the World Cup in Saudi Arabia in 2034, as revealed on LBC.

To me, that attitude is fundamentally misguided, and frankly narrow-minded.

Alcohol is illegal in Saudi Arabia because of the country’s strict interpretation of the laws of Islam. We want tourists coming to the UK to respect our culture and norms - I think it’s pretty selfish to expect anything else from any other country.

Part of the fun of going abroad for a football tournament is enjoying the local culture. I’ve never been to Saudi Arabia, but in a huge country with a population of tens of millions of people, I’m sure there are some other things that fans can find to do apart from drinking beer.

As the Saudi ambassador to the UK told Nick Ferrari: "Everyone has their own culture. We’re happy to accommodate people within the boundaries of our culture but we don’t want to change our culture for someone else”. That seems fair enough to me.

Read more: No alcohol at all will be allowed at 2034 World Cup, Saudi ambassador tells LBC

HRH Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud joins Nick Ferrari at Breakfast | LBC Exclusive

And actually, football doesn’t have to be so closely linked to a culture of drinking. Yes, for many fans in this country and others in Western Europe and other parts of the world, beer is important. This is totally their right, but for many others here and across the globe it’s not the case.

Now, I wouldn’t consider myself the most committed stadium-going football fan; I get along to a handful of League One games a year. Sometimes I go to the pub before the game and sometimes I don’t. I pretty much enjoy the game the same amount whether or not I’ve had a pint or two beforehand.

When I was at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, at first we tried to have a beer before games but because of very long queues we decided not to - and you know what, I don’t think it made one bit of difference.

If you want to argue the World Cup being awarded to Saudi Arabia was a terrible mistake because of the country’s flagrant human rights abuses - I entirely agree with you.

And there is some legitimacy to the argument that the World Cup is a global event and as such global norms, including the freedom to consume alcohol, should be applied. But to that I would say: "When did we allow football and drinking to become so intertwined?"

So if you’re moaning about not being able to get a pint in Riyadh, I would repeat the words of Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud: “Really? You can't live without a drink?”

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