Qatar 2022 World Cup: Budweiser has a plan for all the beer it can’t sell at the tournament – ‘ultimate championship celebration’

Doha, Qatar — Qatar’s last minute decision Alcohol ban in World Cup stadiums left Budweiser with a lot of beer in hand. The company has an innovative solution to relieve it.

Budweiser will ship the unsold buds to the country that wins the tournament, the company said in a tweet. The company confirmed the plans in a statement to CNN Business, writing that it “wants to bring this celebration out of the FIFA World Cup stadiums and to the fans of the winning country.”

“We will host the ultimate championship celebration for the victorious country. Because for the victorious fans, they conquered the world. More details will be announced as we get closer to the finals,” a spokesman for Anheuser-Busch InBev said in a statement.

Last week – just days before the start of the World Cup – Qatar announced that the eight stadiums would not be able to sell alcoholic Budweiser, leaving fans with only one beer option: non-alcoholic Bud Zero.

Qatar is a Muslim country that is considered very conservative and strictly regulates the sale and consumption of alcohol. In September, officials said ticketed fans could buy alcoholic beer three hours before kick-off and an hour after the final whistle, but not during the game.

“Following discussions between the authorities of the host country and FIFA, it was decided to focus sales of alcoholic beverages at the FIFA Fan Festival, other fan destinations and licensed venues, and to expand beer outlets from around the stadium for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar remove it,” said FIFA, football’s governing body, last week.

Budweiser tweeted, “Well that’s awkward,” though the social media post was quickly deleted.

“As a partner of FIFA for over three decades, we look forward to our activation of FIFA World Cup campaigns around the world to celebrate football with our consumers,” an AB-InBev spokesman said in a previous statement. “Some of the planned stadium activations cannot go ahead due to circumstances beyond our control.”

AB InBev paid $75 million for FIFA sponsorship, according to multiple reports. So the decision has upended the company’s World Cup marketing plans as the decision drastically reduces its presence to thousands of fans at the World Cup. Arguably the larger part – the TV commercials starring football kings Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. – is unaffected, however.

The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 will take place until December 18th.