Hypocrisy of Saudi Arabia’s World Cup alcohol ban: Football fans must go without, but the kingdom is awash with booze… either smuggled in, a dangerous home brew or officials above the law bending the rules

Many football fans will have been disappointed by the Saudi ambassador’s declaration that there will be ‘no alcohol at all’ at the 2034 World Cup.

The country banned the sale of booze for more than 70 years before allowing a single off-licence to sell liquor to foreign diplomats last year – sparking hopes that it might ease the rules for visitors in time for the event.

But these were dampened this week when Saudi envoy Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud stated in no uncertain terms that, ‘rather like our weather, it’s a dry country.’

Officially this remains the case, but scratch the surface and the Arab nation has, for many years, been awash with booze which has been smuggled in and even home-brewed.

Embassy officials have long brought hooch into their compounds inside everything from sealed diplomatic pouches to imported furniture.

In one infamous case, crates of whisky – at £2,000 a bottle – were hidden in a grand piano, while another saw a furniture shipping company warn an official: ‘Sir, your couch is leaking.’

Many have then made tidy profits selling on what they don’t drink themselves to a thirsty public – despite the heavy penalties associated with alcohol consumption. 

Drinking in the Kingdom is punishable by public flogging, fines, or lengthy imprisonment, as well as deportation in certain cases, with penalties far harsher for locals than expats.

Pictures shared by Saudi Customs show how would-be smugglers they had stopped would hide their contraband by strapping bottles to themselves

Empty Budweiser stands are seen outside at the 2022 Qatar World Cup after authorities announced that no alcohol would be sold in the perimeter of stadiums

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has been trying to balance traditional domestic values with his efforts attract foreign tourists

Desperate to get their fix, many Saudis venture across the border to Bahrain, where entire streets are said to be given over to satisfy Saudi customers with bars and brothels.

Pictures shared by Saudi Customs show how would-be smugglers they had stopped would hide their contraband by strapping bottles to themselves and wearing bottles them in specially designed trousers beneath thawbs.

The anticipated booze prohibition for 2034 follows the 2022 World Cup in nearby Qatar, where the sale of beer in stadiums was banned two days before kick-off.

But the difference lay in the fact that tourists could still enjoy alcoholic drinks in their hotels, restaurants and fan zones – with with more relaxed laws around drinking in the 2022 host nation.

Secret drinking inside Saudi Arabia has a history as long as the alcohol ban, which was implemented in 1952 after a drunken prince embarrassed the King by shooting the British vice-consul dead during a heated, bleary argument.

The move angered foreigners living in the country, with the most vocal critics being the workers in the Aramco oil company which was helping to build up the desert state’s inordinate wealth.

Time magazine reported that by December that year ‘twenty Aramco workers had already quit, and more were threatening to, unless the company could persuade the King to repeal prohibition’. 

An anonymous author responded by publishing the so-called Blue Flame manual – which got its name from its popularity among oil workers.

An Aramco worker with a ‘Siddiqui’ home-brewing still on a cooker in his kitchen (undated)

The manual provided instructions on home-brewing and distilling and soon became all the rage amongst Saudi Arabia’s expat communities of Saudi Arabia.

The subculture of home-brewing has been an open secret in Saudi Arabia ever since.

So long as alcohol is consumed in compounds, authorities generally turn a blind eye, expats have long said. 

Non-Muslim expats have even been given a shop in Riyadh, but this has widely been seen as a token way to stop diplomats smuggling booze in.

There is also said illicit drinking is popular amongst many Saudi natives, despite the strict laws for Muslims in the country.

Crates of Heineken cans disguised as Pepsi were intercepted by Saudi customs several years ago

‘There is quite a drinking culture with the Saudis themselves,’ a British expat named only as Tony previously told the BBC. 

‘Most of the guys that I socialise with have stocks of Jack Daniels and other booze, as well as buying stuff that some of the expats brew.’

He added that while the regular police would often turn a blind eye if they caught someone with a bottle, the religious police would be more strict.

‘Even if there is no-one influential there it would normally be OK, unless you made excessive noise or upset anyone,’ he said.

He said that many of the ‘better off’ Saudis would go to compounds for parties, as these were unlikely to be raided unless police received a tip-off.

Customs officials shared pictures of methods people use to conceal booze and smuggle it into Saudi Arabia

While underground drinking is an open secret in Saudi Arabia, it is difficult to gauge the extent to which locals partake.

The UK – where six in 10 cases of liver disease are caused by alcohol consumption – ranks 142 in the world for death from liver disease and 146 for liver cancer. 

By contrast, Saudi ranks number 69 and 104 respectively, as well as ranking 11th in the world for kidney disease.

While other factors are certainly at play, alcohol consumption remains a major cause of liver and kidney disease worldwide. 

Alcohol remains highly taboo in the country, both among the authorities and much of the Muslim population.

Saudi Arabia hosted the Club World Cup in December 2023, which was won by Man City

Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has been trying to balance traditional domestic values with his efforts attract foreign tourists and Western investment in recent years.

He has been driving a number of social and cultural reforms, such as allowing bans on women driving, movie theatres and music festivals to be lifted.

Despite this, the Kingdom has retained its strict ban on booze, even as its conservative neighbours such as Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates allowed restricted consumption in hotels and other venues.

‘Everyone has their own culture and we’re happy to accommodate people within the boundaries of our culture, but we don’t want to change our culture for someone else. And I mean, really, you can’t live without a drink?’ Prince Khalid said on LBC this week.

But with the Saudi tournament not set to kick off for another ten years, insiders have indicated that the country’s laws could be relaxed by the time fans arrive, potentially allowing them to buy alcohol in places such as hotels rather than sneak booze in.

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