Many supporters had been up in arms on the thought of the World Cup happening in a conservative nation like Qatar the place the sale of alcohol is extremely restricted, however for some feminine followers it has led to a safer expertise on the match.
“I used to be anticipating a really harmful place for ladies. I didn’t suppose I used to be going to be protected right here … from coming right here that’s not been the case, as a travelling feminine fan I can say that I’ve felt very protected,” England fan Ellie Molloson informed Reuters.
Molloson, who’s an envoy for a marketing campaign to deal with sexism in soccer known as HerGameToo, mentioned that her father had been so involved that he accompanied her to Qatar to make sure that she could be protected, however it turned out his providers as a chaperone weren’t wanted.
The 19-year-old mentioned that the dearth of alcohol had contributed to a much less bawdy ambiance across the video games on the World Cup, however in her opinion it was largely cultural.
“I believe it truly is because of a extra socially conservative society. I believe alcohol contributes a bit extra to hostility, relatively than issues like catcalling, wolf whistling and sexual harassment,” she defined.
“I do like a variety of banter, I really like a great ambiance, you don’t actually get a lot of that right here, It’s very very completely different, however with that it’s far more nice, far more family-friendly … however you should not have fairly the identical ambiance as you’ll in England.”
Argentina fan Ariana Gold, 21, informed Reuters she was nervous earlier than travelling to the Center East as she didn’t know what to anticipate.“It’s very nice for ladies, I’m very keen on soccer and once I was in my nation I assumed possibly this (Qatar) is an space for less than males, and possibly it’s uncomfortable for ladies however no, I’m very comfy and it is rather good right here,” she mentioned.
Alcohol is accessible in some bars and inns in Qatar, however there’s a conspicuous lack of the type of consumption normally seen on the world’s greatest soccer match.
“It’s fairly a great ambiance nonetheless, despite the fact that there’s no drink and everybody’s being wise,” England fan Emma Smith mentioned. “Everybody’s getting on with it and everybody’s blissful.”
Has the 33-year-old from Sheffield felt protected in Qatar?
“Yeah positively, positively — as a result of there’s no alcohol concerned, it feels actually protected,” she mentioned.