beyondbrics

For many football fans the world over, half the fun of match day is having a beer with your mates.

In Brazil, that pleasure takes place some time before and after the action because alcohol may not be sold inside grounds. But with the football World Cup just around the corner, FIFA is putting its foot down and insisting the host of the 2014 championship do right by its sponsors and sell beers made by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s biggest brewer, inside the 12 participating stadiums.

On a visit to check on preparations for the tournament, FIFA’s Jerome Valcke told Brazilians on Wednesday: “Alcoholic drinks are part of the FIFA World Cup, so we’re going to have them. Excuse me if I sound a bit arrogant but that’s something we won’t negotiate. The fact that we have the right to sell beer has to be a part of the law.”

The controversy is reminiscent of that in Germany in 2006, when locals got in a froth over the exclusion of their locals brews. The scandal was such that Anheuser-Busch backed down and agreed to sell local beer Bitburger alongside its own, as long as it was in unmarked cups.

Brazilian brewers won’t be making that kind of fuss as the country’s biggest-selling lagers are owned by the same Anheuser-Busch InBev company. (And anyway, connoisseurs of proper beer say it won’t make any difference as Brazilian beer is every bit as taste-free and watery as its American cousin.)

But the fact such issues are still being discussed clearly exasperates FIFA. Valcke pointed out the body has already resolved the issue of alcohol sales with Russia and Qatar, hosts of the 2018 and 2022 tournaments, respectively.

More worryingly, the battle of the beer underlines the general lack of understanding between the hosts and the organisers. In addition to the alcohol dispute, the two have also been at odds over who would be liable for security and safety problems. The sale of half-price tickets to students and the elderly, and restrictions on small merchants selling their own products near stadiums are also thorny issues. Under Brazilian law, students and senior citizens are entitled to half-price tickets for shows and events.

FIFA – perhaps aware the law is roundly abused by people with false student IDs – wanted the rules suspended for the World Cup. Brazilian lawmakers baulked and FIFA last year made a partial climb-down and agreed to sell 300,000 tickets for first-round matches at discounted rates of US$25 to groups including students, senior citizens, indigenous Brazilians,  and even people who hand over guns as part of a disarmament programme.

These and other disputes should be resolved when Brazil passes its World Cup 2014 legislation. But four years after it was awarded the right to host the tournament it is still dragging its heels.

Valcke spoke for more than just FIFA when he said: “We must move on – it is time for the baby to be born.”

Related reading:
Brazil football chief under fire again, beyondbrics
Bad airports might ground Brazil’s World Cup dreams, beyondbrics
Brazil: World Cup projects over budget, beyondbrics
World Cup 2014: March of the white elephants, beyondbrics