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Magazine I Sport

It was finally decided that the tournament would take place in the winter, from the 20 th of November to the 18 th of December, as the weather is far more clement at that time of year, with temperatures oscillating between 17°C and 25°C. As this year’s tournament will last only 29 days, it has been decided that during the group stage, four matches will be played each day instead of the usual three. The final will be held on December 18 th at 17:00 Israel time. And by no means is it a fluke that it should coincide with the country’s national holiday, Qatar National Day. Qatar is a conservative country Even though the World Cup is all about the football, the hundreds

of thousands of fans who fly over to attend the matches are also coming for the month-long non stop partying. Those who got to experience Brazil 2014 or Russia 2018 know all about the carnival atmosphere in the streets - the music, the dancing, the sense of freedom and fun. And for English, Danish, or Scottish football fans, there’s no such thing as football without beer. Alcohol is an integral part of the experience. Even though it’s currently possible to purchase exorbitantly priced alcohol in Doha’s luxury hotels (between $15 and $25 for a glass of wine or beer!), Qatar is a Muslim country and as such, the consumption of alcohol of any kind is forbidden. Admittedly, the Qataris understood

from the get-go that they would not be able to enforce their alcohol ban on the hundreds of thousands of football tourists. Stadiums will therefore include special areas where beer will be available, and at far more reasonable prices: around $7.50 a pop. Everything is close to everything Qatar is a small country. A pocket sized peninsula mostly made up of desert land. The farthest distance from one end to the other is 180km, that’s less than the distance between Beersheba and Haifa, so all it will take to get from one stadium to the other is at most, a thirty-minute ride on the subway - which by the way took $36 billion

32 ATMOSPHERE OCTOBER 2022