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| - Fact Check: Are fans sneaking beer into Qatar stadiums by disguising them as Coke, Pepsi? Viral pics are old
Following Qatar's recent decision to reverse the original plan for tournament sponsor Budweiser to sell beer to fans attending the FIFA World Cup 2022, there are several people claiming on social media that beer cans are being disguised as soft drink cans and being snuck into the football stadiums.
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India Today Fact Check
Both photos are old and not related to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. No recent incident of people getting caught with disguised beer cans has been from Qatar so far.
From the very beginning, the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar has been at the centre of controversies. Be it the host's orthodox views on homosexuality, or the treatment of migrant workers who constructed the necessary infrastructure for the event, Qatar has continued to make headlines over the past couple of months.
Following Qatar’s recent decision to reverse the original plan for tournament sponsor Budweiser to sell beer around the eight sites, two photos have started making rounds on social media that purportedly show beer cans disguised as soft drink cans.
People who shared these two photos claimed that football fans were sneaking beer inside the stadium by adding fake Pepsi or Coca-Cola covers to the cans.
"Football lovers finding ways to drink alcohol at the Fifa world cup in Qatar. Fans rebrand Heineken beer cans as Pepsi in other to smuggle to the stadiums and other places after last-minute ban on alcohol by Qatari Authorities," read one such post.
Another such tweet read, "Some supporters have obviously found the technique to drink alcohol in stadiums in Qatar."
Some supporters have obviously found the technique to drink alcohol in stadiums in Qatar. ððº pic.twitter.com/KqaLlHsfpy — World Cup Updates (@wc22updates) November 20, 2022
At the same time, some people also claimed that a few fans are nabbed by the administration when they tried to sneak beer inside the stadium using the same technique.
In Qatar fans who are not allowed to enter the stadium with beer at the World Cup are being caught trying to enter the stadium with Pepsi stickers in this form. It should be noted that Qatar prohibits any alcoholic beverages. pic.twitter.com/JfRViRffTR — Der-daba (@derdaaba8) November 23, 2022
A website called Dimsum Daily also reported hat football fans were purchasing silicone can covers to disguise beer cans as Coca-Cola after alcohol sale at Qatar World Cup stadiums was banned. The story featured one of the viral photos.
AFWA's investigation found that both photos are old and not related to the ongoing FIF World Cup in Qatar.
AFWA PROBE
Upon reverse-searching the first photo — Heineken cans covered with fake Pepsi wrapping — we came across multiple news reports from 2015. One such report from the Newser published on November 13, 2015, featured the same image.
Per the report, a smuggler was held by Saudi Arabia's custom department, who allegedly tried to smuggle 48,000 cans of Heineken beer — all disguised as Pepsi cans. Reportedly, the man got busted while transporting the can into Saudi Arabia via the Al Batha border. Alcohol is banned in Saudi Arabia.
We also found the archived version of a tweet made by the official account of the Customs Department of Saudi Arabia from November 11, 2015. The tweet contained the same image, making it clear that it had nothing to do with this ongoing World Cup.
When we reverse-searched the second photo and found it on various social media sites. Some shared it as early as six months before the World Cup began. For instance, an Instagram user shared this photo on June 9 with the caption, "Just little things like this."
The same photo was also shared by a Twitter account on June 7. A Dailystar report, however, mentioned that this photo was shot in the UK this summer.
We also searched for news reports to make sure if any similar incidents had been reported from Qatar recently and found any credible ones. Although we could not pinpoint the exact date or place where this Coca-Cola-wrapped beer can photo was shot, we are more than sure that neither is related to the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
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