Several news agencies are sharing recent statements from Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United Kingdom announcing that the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which will be held between Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Abha and NEOM in Saudi Arabia, will be a dry event.
Sources:
- https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/feb/12/saudi-ambassador-tells-world-cup-fans-you-can-have-fun-without-alcohol
- https://www.aa.com.tr/en/sports/alcohol-to-be-banned-at-2034-world-cup-in-saudi-arabia/3482329
- https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/saudi-arabia-to-ban-all-alcohol-at-2034-world-cup/articleshow/118257808.cms?from=mdr
Interestingly, he does say that there is no alcohol "at the moment," which certainly leaves the door open for changes to come over the next nine years. The Gulf is famously nuanced and has been known to pivot sharply at the eleventh hour, so one should always take these words with grains of salt… but a curious setup, nonetheless.
khabah_
by khabah_
27 Comments
Ah yes that great footballing nation… *checks notes*… Saudi Arabia!
good. its barbaric and sinful to do. im glad we arent changing our culture for people who dont arent our own. more backbone than the west thats for sure
Oil money buys our values
Tired of the Saudi sportswashing machine. So damn tired of it.
Sounds like a great time👎
Does European football culture have a drinking problem?
Have fun! :/
When y’all come to Dallas for 2026 matches I’ll have a keg party in my backyard before the matches. Come on!
Qatar ran so the rest of the Arab countries could walk.
This sucks major ass
gonna be fun watching english people try to take beer in every hole possible.
It’s a long time until 2034 realistically KSA is absolutely going to relax it’s alcohol stance in the next 10 year because it’s genuinely wanting to engage with the luxury tourism market and pull some of this away from the UAE so expect a hardline untill about 2030 when tolerance zones will be set up.
What about heniken zero and other brands with zero alcohol? Cheers
No alcohol but it’s ok to imprison atheists. What a fucked up morality
People gonna get fked up in hotels and then enjoy the match. Already seeing English folks failing to get to the stadium
why are we having another middle east WC already
Thank you FIFA and Middle East for ruining another world cup. Call me insensitive to other cultures or whatever but I’d be a proponent of banning any country where alcohol is illegal from hosting the tournament.
I fully support this.
I am tired of thousands of drunks pissing all over the streets while everyone pretends this is just OK because it’s European style life and as such it’s acceptable.
It’s not. Boozing like maniacs in public, specially in events attended by kids and women should not be seen positively.
I hope this happens someday in Europe. And not only with football but other events. I bet many of them would ceasse to exist as the only reason they are popular is because they serve as an excuse for alcoholics to drawn in booze without feeling guilty.
Wanna drink? Keep it to the Hotel, bars, restaurants etc.
Streets and stadiums? Behave like proper human beings. It’s a shame it takes muslims to tell people how to act in public. Times have changed.
Drunk people can be some of the most annoying and irritating people. I had to spend 2 hours extra on a train, after a full 17 hour ride across Europe with no sleep, because of a drunkard who got into a fight. Good on them for banning alcohol.
U must wonder why they d do it there knowing the system they go by. Money talks
What’s the big deal here? SA doesn’t allow alcohol, FIFA awarded the event to SA. If you want to drink while watching football stay home. Easy peazy.
Well I won’t be going and I’m not a huge drinker. But I’m against this on principle. If you aren’t going to be an inclusive host, then don’t host. Don’t dictate how people who don’t practice *your* religion live. If you don’t drink, then I respect that but you should respect others’ decision to drink. If you want your women covered up head to toe, fine by me. But don’t tell women who don’t want to be covered up to be covered up, especially ones who don’t follow your religion.
They should allow smoking weed cause the Netherlands allows it /s
Well the attendance will be low from Europe 😂😂
It’s okay, their country, their decision xD
It seems my fellow europeans are discovering you don’t have to trade in your customs when you invite foreigners to your country.
On the bright sight we won’t see all the pride bullshit all over the tournament like the Olympics in France