Let’s call time on football’s absurd beer ban

When Qatar announced an alcohol ban at last year’s football World Cup, there was uproar. The decision, made public a few days before the tournament kicked off in November, was proof for critics that the event should never have been held in the country.

But in English stadiums today a similar – and perhaps even more bizarre – rule relating to alcohol is enforced. Fans at Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two games are banned from drinking ‘in sight of the pitch’. They can booze to their heart’s content in stadium bars, but if they take a drink back to their seat, they risk being arrested and fined. 

For years, football fans have quietly tolerated this diktat. But sometimes it takes an outsider – in this case an American actor, Charlie Day – to expose how ludicrous some rules really are. Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney revealed last week how his friend Day nearly ended up in hot water for apparently drinking a beer while he watched a game.