Misleading Photo Comparison Claiming to be Streets Littered at a Previous FIFA world cup, which permitted liquor!

Alcohol is prohibited at stadiums except for a few designated areas during the FIFA football world cup. Many social media posts have related to the pros and cons of this decision, and many fans showed their displeasure over his ban on alcohol, announced just days before the world cup.

Factcrescendo Team came across a misleading photo comparison which showed the positive side of the alcohol ban in FIFA 2022 in Qatar. Let’s look at the claim first.

Social Media Posts

A photo comparison claims the difference between a previous FIFA world cup, where alcoholic beverages were allowed, and the current FIFA world cup, where alcoholic drinks are not allowed, was viral with the below caption.

The difference between a World Cup without alcoholic beverages and a World Cup with alcoholic beverages. #FIFAWorldCup #Qatar

Facebook| Archived

Users commented on it like below.

Many users had assumed the image on the right, showing a street littered with garbage dumps, to be scenes after a previous FIFA world cup, which permitted liquor at the stadiums.

These claims were viral on other platforms as well. TikTok | Archived

Fact Check

We did a Reverse Image Search and found the photo on the left side to be indeed associated with the famous Lusail Boulevard Fan Zone. Here is another recent post of the canopy of breezing flags at Lusail Boulevard. So it’s clear that the image depicts a fan zone at the current FIFA World Cup 2022, with clean and well-maintained roads.

Since the posts imply that the right-side image depicts a dirty street near a stadium from a previous FIFA world cup, we did the reverse image search to find the image’s origins.

Back in June 2016, " Le Parisien " newspaper, this image and the caption indicated that the photo was taken on the Parisian Clichy Street during "Euro 2016" (European Nations) matches. It shows the waste left by fans while attending these nighttime matches. So, it's clear that the photo is not connected with any of the previous FIFA world cups. The story of Le Parisen newspaper can be read here. Archived

Even though alcoholic beverages distribution, selling and consumption are not allowed inside the stadium, sales are still permitted at fan events in licensed venues and in-stadium luxury suites that also serve liquor, wine and custom World Cup 2022 champagne. Details about this can be read here & here. Archived & Archived

Also Read: Scene from 2015 in Saudi, shared as visuals from FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022!

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Conclusion

According to our investigation, it's clear that the viral social media photo comparison is misleading, and the photo on the right is NOT attributed to a previous FIFA world cup.

The image of untidy, littered streets is associated with the “Euro 2016” football matches and is not connected with any of the previous FIFA world cups that permitted liquor sales.