“Man, I need to pee.” Allah’s vengeance has reached Doha. Bizarre scenes

– If you have a Hayya card, you will enter without any problems – argued the taxi driver from Bangladesh, who was driving us to the fan zone. The one in the center of Doha was opened on Saturday, the day before the Qatar-Ecuador match. On the first day there was more music in it. The second – sports. On both days, however, it was full of fans who, after getting inside – which was not so easy at all – had a great time. Check out the video below:

– Qataris, I love you – Maluma, a Colombian singer who gave a nearly two-hour concert on Saturday, shouted from the stage. However, not everyone could see and hear him live. We were late too, because the prompts of the Bangladeshi taxi driver put us in long queues. As hundreds of people squeezed inside, thousands more were still waiting outside, arguing with security and police.

“Will you let us in finally? We’re VIP guests”

We waited with them. Or rather, we were queuing up with the locals, who also occupied the media gates. They also tried to break into the fan zone with this entrance. Unsuccessfully. We were also close to giving up at some point, because after a dozen or so minutes of standing, it turned out that the tournament accreditation and Hayya card – documents full of sensitive data and tedious procedures that we had to go through to even be able to fly to Qatar – were not enough, to enter the fan zone.

It turned out that additional stamps were needed. And although making them took a while, finding out where to do it – let’s add that from other Polish journalists, because the local services could not explain it to us – took over half an hour.

And that wasn’t the end of the queuing, because later it was again squeezing through the crowd to the media gates, which were still closed. Despite already having the appropriate accreditation, we still couldn’t go inside. – Will you finally let us in? We are VIP guests from the main sponsor, Coca-Cola, the two Americans were nervous, after about 10 minutes they beat the gates. And finally they were on the other side. The right one, i.e. in the fan zone – and we together with them – Maluma’s concert was just ending.

“It’s Allah’s Revenge”

– Today we have fun and dance, and tomorrow? And tomorrow we’ll see. Tomorrow will be tomorrow! It will be the first day of the championship: Qatar plays Ecuador, but we will think about it later. In the meantime, make some noise and make this party even more fun – shouted the announcer, who appeared on the stage shortly after Maluma’s concert.

In addition to hundreds of thousands of locals, fans from Argentina, Mexico and Spain stood out in the crowd. They shouted, sang, poured beer on each other, and even tossed an ESPN reporter who was broadcasting live from the fan zone. Those who managed to get inside on the first day could feel the atmosphere of a football holiday even before the official opening of the World Cup. The fun continued. Unfortunately, for a while, because at some point it became nervous again. Not only in front of the zone, but also in the zone itself – right next to the barracks, in the queue for men’s toilets.

– Man, I need to pee. I really need to pee – shouted an impatient Argentine fan to the Qatari police who were guarding the entrance to the toilets. These have been closed at some point. Separated not only by the police, but also by metal gates. – There are more on the other side of the stage. Please head there. You won’t come in here. But why? Because no, they’re closed. Sorry, I don’t speak English – one of the policemen suddenly forgot English, who had communicated very well in this language a moment earlier. These were bizarre scenes, compounding the frustration of anyone who needed to use the restrooms.

“It’s Allah’s revenge,” one of the fans, who was standing with the last of his beer in a plastic cup, said at one point. That was also the reason for standing in line. Just beer, which on Saturday and Sunday could be purchased in the fan zone for 50 riyals (about PLN 62). There was no shortage of volunteers. And this despite the closed toilets, because after Friday’s decision of the Qatari authorities to withdraw beer from stadiums, fans were basically only allowed to drink alcohol in the fan zones.

Including the one in the center of Doha – the largest, where hundreds of thousands of people passed through the first two days, and still not everyone managed to get inside.