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Budweiser is right down the bottom of the list of beers I would choose to drink.

It did fork out a huge sum to be FIFA’s official beer and has for some time, so I would make do and neck it while watching my nation do battle at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

As we well know, that plan went up in smoke for hundreds of thousands of fans when FIFA and Qatar announced just days before the tournament that no beer would be sold at stadiums.

Sorry, no beer would be sold to the plebs as those in the extremely expensive hospitality suites could still crack a few cold ones with the boys.

Qatar had said in September that it would permit fans with match tickets to buy alcoholic beer at World Cup matches starting three hours before kickoff and ending one hour after the final whistle.

Budweiser had a short and sweet response on Twitter, which was deleted soon afterwards:

✅ True. Budweiser tweeted, then deleted, a post stating, “Well, this is awkward…” after an announcement that alcohol wouldn’t be sold at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. https://t.co/TKI3mmjHlC pic.twitter.com/Qxz6BUnLi4

— snopes.com (@snopes) November 18, 2022

Ecuador fans at Sunday’s opening match against Qatar certainly made their feelings clear:

Ecuador fans are chanting “Queremos Cerveza” at the World Cup in Qatar.

Translation: “We want beer.”pic.twitter.com/Sxxy3z3R48

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) November 20, 2022

After letting the decision digest for a while, the company came up with a new plan, reports CNN:

Budweiser will ship the unsold Buds to the country that wins the tournament, the company said in a tweet. The company confirmed the plans in a statement to CNN Business, writing that it “wants to bring this celebration from the FIFA World Cup stadiums to the winning country’s fans.”

“We will host the ultimate championship celebration for the winning country. Because, for the winning fans, they’ve taken the world. More details will be shared when we get closer to the finals,” an Anheuser-Busch InBev spokesperson said in a statement.

That’s going to be some party given the sheer volume of beer now sitting idle:

New Day, New Tweet. Winning Country gets the Buds. Who will get them? pic.twitter.com/Vv2YFxIZa1

— Budweiser (@Budweiser) November 19, 2022

GAME ON.

We’re throwing the biggest Winners celebration – EVER. @UniofOxford say its going to be in….Brazil? 🚚💨 https://t.co/UNlNv0hWUA

— Budweiser (@Budweiser) November 20, 2022

Publicly, Budweiser is putting a positive spin on things.

Behind the scenes, with parent company AB InBev having paid $75 million for the FIFA sponsorship of this World Cup, it’s not quite so friendly.

MSN reports:

Budweiser are said to be demanding a $47.4 million refund…

Moreover, the allegedly ongoing spat between Budweiser and FIFA could put the two brands’ relationship on rocky grounds ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

This follows reports that Budweiser and FIFA had already agreed on a deal of $112 million for the finals in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Other reports put the deal for the 2026 World Cup at closer to $170 million.

Watching from South Africa, the World Cup provides a perfect excuse to start drinking just before lunch (the first match kicks off at noon) and carry on through to the late hours, with the final game usually finishing around 11PM.

It’s a tough gig but somebody’s gotta do it.

[sources:cnn&msn]