The first week of the WC is over. On the pitch, the matches are going their way, the press system and the practicalities around the championship are getting a lot of praise, but outside the stadiums, not everything has gone as smoothly for World Cup organizer Fifa and Qatar. Supporters being stopped with rainbow effects, apps deleting tickets on match day, promises of beer service being broken at the last minute and supporters overpaying for what in practice have turned out to be glorified tents. These are just some of the non-sporting problems that have dominated the headlines during the tournament’s first week. So what is it really like to be a supporter in this already maligned championship? news goes to the World Cup’s largest fan zone in Al Bidda, a small area a short drive from the center of Doha, to see with its own eyes how supporters are looked after at the championship’s largest venue. Or “Fifa Fan Festival”, as the international football association has chosen to call the place. The Fifa Fan Festival is the common meeting place for all the nations’ supporters in Qatar. Photo: Egil Sande / news Supporters from all nations can gather there to watch matches, but there will also be live music and opportunities to carry out other activities in the area, says Fifa. And let’s first say: The place itself is great. The area is large enough to accommodate 40,000 fans at the same time, and there is concrete and asphalt as far as the eye can see. Few seats and little shade The sun is hot when news arrives, as it has done every single day during the World Cup. The first thing we notice is the lack of seating. There are simply no other options than sitting on the ground. And last but not least: Lack of shade, which is not quite optimal when the degree scale shows 31. Anyone who has been on a tarmac in the scorching sun knows how intense the heat can be. People gravitated towards the places where they could get a break from the sun. Photo: Egil Sande / news And the relatively few square meters in the enormous asphalt jungle that provide a break from the sun have long since been filled. People sit close together in the few places where it is possible to watch a match without being afraid of getting sunburned. Employees go around the area selling drinks from a trolley, and the offer is popular. We understand that very well. We look further around the area and discover something that to a good extent illustrates the shadow problems in the fan zone. In the area in front of the big screen, people have discovered that one light pole casts a large shadow. On this small spot they flock together. It’s a bit comical. In front of the light pole, people found shelter from the sun. Photo: Egil Sande / news One of those standing there is Molka Shamiri from Tunisia. She told news that she had to show up an hour before the match to get a place there. – But it’s worth it, she asserts. Molka Shamiri showed up early to get shade. Photo: news Then spectators faint But most have to make do with watching the match in the scorching sun. The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet recently visited the same area. Then they saw a supporter pass out in the heat and had to be taken away in an ambulance. As our Swedish colleagues put it nicely: At the “Fifa fan festival” there is everything a football supporter could want, except what everyone is looking for. There were many people who had to sit close together to get a place in the shade. Photo: Egil Sande / news But there is hope for those with a full wallet. Fifa sells VIP packages to supporters who want to avoid the boiling sun in the fan zone, but the cheapest package costs £450 per person, or around NOK 5,300, per person, per day. It provides access to a private dining and drinking area that has shade and views over those standing in the heat, and includes a two-course bar dinner and drinks. In a recent press release from Fifa, they state that at most they have had up to 98,000 visitors during one day in the Fan Festival area. During the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador, there was such a rush that the police had to close the entrance and deny people entry. ESPN has covered the matter, speaking to supporters who described the stampede that ensued as dangerous. – A pure, unfunny joke news’s sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt says he was very curious about how the organizers came to cope with the challenges of giving the visiting fans a sensible offer. He believes Fifa should have done a better job of facilitating the World Cup’s largest fan zone. – If you want to create your own World Cup universe, call it atmosphere, you must have facilities. Places where fans can meet and watch matches other than inside the stadium, and not least places where it is possible to enjoy yourself. They have obviously completely neglected the latter, says Saltvedt. He does not like the fact that Fifa has not built a fan zone with better solutions. – So they believe that something that is most reminiscent of a run-down car park should be a perfectly good offer. It is not. This is a pure, unfunny joke. No place to sit. No place to relax in the shade. Where are the umbrellas? Where are the sunbeds? Where is the artificial grass, which could dampen the irritation over the asphalt surface a bit? he asks rhetorically. This guy was popular. He sold water and soft drinks like hot cakes. Photo: Egil Sande / news – Absolutely crazy here news talks to several supporters while we are there. Most face the heat with a smile, like Danny Serena from Australia. He is one of those who have been given a place in the shadows. – There should probably be more shady places here and places to sit, but it’s absolutely perfect here, he says to news, and adds: – It’s hot, but here there is shade, the game is on and we’re winning. It doesn’t really get much better, and we’re happy as long as the big screen works, he says with a smile. It is not only the lack of shaded areas that has received criticism in the WC’s biggest fan zone. The quality of the food has also been reviewed. “The standard of the food in the World Cup fan zone has been slaughtered, but people are also questioning the sensational prices,” writes The Sun, which has devoted an article to the World Cup food supporters can buy. Photo: Screen dump / The Scottish Sun On social media, there are also several people who have pointed out that the food quality could be better. Photos of a poor salad have gone viral. But our impression is that the food is far from as bad as these viral posts make it out to be. The menu offers a lot to choose from, and news’s two delegates bought a burger, a slice of pizza and two bottles of water when we were there. The food tasted just fine. It’s unlikely to get a Michelin star any time soon, but you can’t expect that from a food kiosk that will serve several thousand customers a day either. This was the burger we were served in the fan zone. Photo: Egil Sande / news Stiff prices The prices were worse than the taste. We paid approximately NOK 120 for a rather small burger and NOK 85 for a slice of pizza. Expensive for us, but it must sting far more in the wallet for supporters who come to the World Cup from poorer countries than Norway. In the kiosk, we talk to Maru Rodriguez from Argentina. She has come to Doha to work during the World Cup and try to watch some matches. She says her impression is that the visitors like both the food and the arrangement in the fan zone. – It seems that most people like themselves here, she says. Maru Rodriguez from Argentina thrives in the kiosk. Photo: Egil Sande / news But then there is this beer, then. Supporters can buy beer in the fan zone – but not before seven o’clock in the evening. Until then, alcohol-free applies. – I was looking for a beer news meets Humi and her husband from Japan, who have just arrived in the fan zone when news meets them. – I was looking for a beer, but only found this non-alcoholic one. It’s a bit strange, I’ve gotten used to watching football with a beer, and especially in weather like this, she tells news in the scorching heat. Japanese Humi wanted a beer in the heat. But it had to be alcohol-free. Photo: Egil Sande / news The battle on the giant big screen is coming to an end, Australia is steering towards an important victory and people in the fan zone seem to be having a pretty good time. It’s really just the lack of seating and shade that makes the experience hardly as good as it could have been. news has offered Fifa to respond to the criticism. At the time of writing, we have still not received a response.
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Fifa boasts of the meeting place for World Cup fans – but do you see what’s missing? – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
