Are football fans sneaking beer into Qatar stadiums disguised as Pepsi, Coke?
Two images allegedly of beer cans disguised as Pepsi and Coca-Cola are doing the rounds with the claim that people have found a way to sneak beer into the stadiums in Qatar.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 24 Nov 2022 11:07 AM GMT
Hyderabad: In an unprecedented move, two days before the start of FIFA World Cup 2022, soccer's global governing body released a statement that beer will not be sold inside or around the perimeter of Qatar's stadiums that are hosting the World Cup matches.
Against this backdrop, two images allegedly of beer cans disguised as Pepsi and Coca-Cola are doing the rounds with the claim that people have found a way to sneak beer into the stadiums in Qatar.
A Facebook page shared the two images and wrote, "Some supporters have obviously found the technique to drink alcohol in stadiums in Qatar."
Several users have shared the photo with similar claims. (Click here, here, and here to see more posts.)
Fact Check
NewsMeter performed a reverse image search and found the image of beer cans disguised as Pepsi cans in an article by BBC published on 12 November 2015. It said that the Saudi Arabia police caught smugglers with cans of beer disguised as Pepsi. When the border patrol police peeled away the labels on the cans, they found illegally exported alcoholic beverages underneath.
We also found the same image in an article published by Al Arabiya News on 12 November 2015. It said that 48,000 beer cans disguised as Pepsi cans were confiscated when a smuggler tried to smuggle the beer into Saudi Arabia from the UAE through the Al Batha border. It also said that alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia.
Al Arabiya English also tweeted the photo on 12 November 2015 and said 48,000 beer cans masked as soft drinks were confiscated by the Saudi police.
On performing a reverse image search of the second photo, of a Coca-Cola can, we found it was posted on Instagram and Twitter on June 2022.
According to an article by Daily Star, the image of a beer can disguised as Coca-Cola was actually taken in the UK back in the summer.
Finally, we searched for news reports about football fans sneaking beer into the stadium in Qatar but did not find any such incidents reported so far.
It is evident that the two images of beer cans wrapped in Pepsi and Coca-Cola labels are old and are not from the FIFA World Cup 2022. Hence, the claim is false.
