Qatar toilet for the wealthy only - NRK Football

If you are going to the World Cup in Qatar, you must purchase match tickets before accessing the accommodation offers.

– Our members have purchased tickets. But what we’re seeing is that many of them can’t travel anyway.

So says Ronan Evin, CEO of Football Supporters Europe (FSE).

FSE has calculated the cheapest possible budget for Western European fans who want to follow their team to the end.

According to Evin, this is difficult to do with less than 80,000 NOK. It is two to three times more expensive than the cost of the World Cup in Russia or Brazil.

The experience of FSE members excluded.

– Fans say their prices are exorbitant, says Evin.

Expensive toilet

Fifa has never sold so many VIP packages this year. brag about it

Qatar is the most successful VIP program to date. With a month into the tournament, revenue from the sale of VIP packages is almost 10 percent higher than that achieved after the World Cup in Brazil, which was the best in terms of VIP sales.

This is what FIFA is writing to NRK in an email.

Match ticket prices have increased significantly compared to the World Cup in Russia, according to Statista. The final ticket is 46 percent more expensive.

Hotel prices are also high. The cheapest option, a bed in a two-star shared room, costs 858 NOK per night, according to VMs. official residence agency.

And plane tickets? Only 47 percent of seats reserved for Qatar during the World Cup period are economy tickets, according to analysis firm ForwardKeys.

In the same period in 2019, the last “normal” year before the pandemic, the proportion of economy class tickets was 69 percent.

The Qatar WC is a top-tier event, according to NRK’s ForwardKeys.

You should give up the toilet this year

Danish Klaus Andersen calls himself a football nerd. My livelihood is my job as an independent tour guide in the tourism industry.

In the off-season, he cycles around the world to watch football matches and meet fans. According to Andersen, he has participated in football matches in 40 countries in the past three years.

The World Cup is definitely the best football event he knows. I’ve been in four bathrooms before.

– It is an international party for football enthusiasts from all over the world. He says sitting in the stadium with so many fans who have the same unspeakable passion is indescribable.

Andersen had intended to ride the longest part of the route between Denmark and Qatar this year, but had to change that plan. Hotel prices are the main reason.

– I can’t bike that far to be there for a few days. And if I were to stay there for a month, which I usually do when it’s the World Cup, staying on my own would cost me at least NOK 55,000 – if I could find some free space in the most modest accommodation option.

That sum is twice his entire tour budget during the World Cup in Russia four years ago.

I know a lot of people who sell match tickets. When they had to find a place to stay, the cheapest accommodation offers had already been taken. Andersen says the toilet is for the wealthy only.

I think rich fans don’t create a good atmosphere

Andersen believes that the best experience in a World Cup is what happens in the last hours before the start of the match. Especially during group matches which are the cheapest.

Then we enter the stadium in the middle of the crowd. These are the fans who saved money over several years to be able to travel and support their favorite team. So much love, so much passion. He claims I met fans who sold their homes.

The cyclist, as he likes to be called, believes that these fans are true “big fans”.

– Because of the prices, there will be fewer big fans in Qatar WC. It will do something with the atmosphere. It would be very boring, Andersen says.

What do you mean it gets boring when the fans are rich?

– Maybe the wrong boring word. But there will definitely be less atmosphere, especially during group matches. Rich fans see prestige in going to the final because final tickets are expensive. There they meet other wealthy fans. Andersen says a lot of them go to networking and talk about business.

I’m going to meet fans in another country

Although Andersen will not be traveling to WC Qatar, he has found an alternative solution.

– I’m going to Istanbul. It is a city with many international football experts. Many clubs and cafes broadcast matches. Every day I’ll be in a new coffee shop.

Andersen thinks it won’t be the same as being on the field, but his relief is that he’ll be meeting other committed fans.

A week passed until Andersen threw his backpack and left.

It’s not fun when you watch the match from a distance and in slow motion. At the same time, no Turk does not have a favorite team, and it is these discussions that I look forward to the most. Andersen says I also like to exchange T-shirts and scarves with fans I meet.