September 3, 2022
The brief from today:
Alcohol sales to be curbed at the World Cup
It isn’t just the scheduling of this year’s World Cup that has been modified, some of the social norms from previous tournaments will also be adjusted this winter in Qatar. With the host nation being a Muslim country, alcohol sales are already heavily restricted. Currently, Qatar doesn’t officially ban alcohol like neighboring Saudi Arabia—another Muslim nation—but it only allows the sale of it in international hotels, and in some restaurants. Foreign residents are able to make purchases, but only at government owned businesses, and consumption in public is strictly prohibited. With this as the backdrop, the sale of alcohol at the World Cup, and in stadiums, was always going to be a delicate matter to navigate—especially with Budweiser being one of the main sponsors of the tournament. After lengthy discussions between tournament organizers and FIFA, a compromise has been reached. It was announced that within the stadiums Budweiser would only be able to sell non-alcoholic beer, while around the stadium perimeter there will be beer stands available for the fans. At these stands, alcohol will be sold, but only from the time the gates open for matches until 30 minutes before kickoff. It also expected that the stands might reopen for a brief period after each match. In addition to the stadium policy, the fan zones can also expect changes from previous World Cups. Fan zones, an area where supporters congregate and watch matches on a big screen, became popular starting at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Typically these fan friendly areas are open throughout the day, and alcohol is readily available for purchase. In Qatar, however, the fan zones will be open all day, but alcohol will only be on sale from 6:30 p.m. until closing each night. For fans who typically accompany their World Cup, or football, experiences with alcohol, this will be a different experience, but there is something to be said for respecting the culture of the location hosting the occasion you are attending.
Budweiser, after 30 years as a main sponsor of the World Cup, won’t sell alcohol inside stadiums in Qatar
Serie A to reduce floodlight usage
League officials in Italy have decided to make some adjustments in response to rising energy costs in the country. It was announced this weekend that Serie A matches scheduled for the evening window would begin to see reduced usage of floodlights. The reduction obviously wouldn’t take place during matches, instead it is meant to be before and after. Games that are set to take place anywhere from 12:30-6 p.m. Italian time would normally have floodlights turned on 90 minutes before kickoff, but the new guidelines will take that down to 60 minutes. This 30 minute reduction across all the matches scheduled in that timeframe is meant to result in a 25 percent saving on energy costs. The late matches, however, which usually kickoff at 7:45 p.m., will still have floodlights coming on 90 minutes prior. These changes are all part of the general plan to cap floodlight usage on matchdays to no more than four hours as the effects of the Russia/Ukraine war on energy costs are increasingly being felt. This isn’t the first story of a league trying to combat the energy issue. In July, it was reported that the French sports ministry was considering a ban on evening sporting events as their way of dealing with the same rising costs. That would be a bit more heavy handed than the Serie A approach, but it’s certainly clear that there is a similar challenge facing various countries, and how each one attempts to cope remains to be seen.
Inside San Siro, Inter and AC Milan’s home stadium, with floodlights beaming long before the match