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E-mail Xinhua, February 13, 2025
No alcohol will be allowed at the 2034 FIFA World Cup finals in Saudi Arabia, the Saudi ambassador to Britain said on Wednesday.
In an interview on LBC radio station, Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud said alcohol would not be sold anywhere in the country.
Hammad Albalawi, head of the Saudi World Cup Bid, speaks at an interview at the Saudi Arabia Wolrd Cup bid exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 2, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Haizhou)
This is different from the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar where alcohol was available in designated fan areas and five-star hotels, all at very inflated prices.
"At the moment, we don't allow alcohol," Prince Khalid said in the interview.
"Everyone has their own culture. We're happy to accommodate people within the boundaries of our culture but we don't want to change our culture for someone else," commented the Prince, who insisted that the World Cup was "not a Saudi event, it is a world event and, to a large extent, we will welcome everyone who wants to come."
