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Budweiser’s winning solution to beer stockpile at dry World Cup

FIFA World Cup kicks off in Qatar

Budweiser has found a winning solution to the problem of a tower of beer it can no longer sell after the FIFA World Cup was turned into a dry event.

The American beer maker was left with thousands of cans that had been transported to Qatar for the month-long football tournament before Saturday’s beer ban was announced.

On Monday, the company’s Twitter account suggested an alternative: “New Day, New Tweet. Winning Country gets the Buds. Who will get them?”

The beer backflip was just one of the many controversies to hit the tournament, which officially opened on Monday morning (Australian time).

In the latest embarrassment, the host nation lost the opening match against Ecuador 2-0. It is the first time a host team has lost an opening game in 92 years.

Qatar was outplayed in front of 67,372 fans at Al Bayt Stadium.

A win for the host nation would have at least put a favourable light on Qatar, soccer-wise.

Instead, Qatar’s players froze in front of an expectant crowd.

There were lots of empty seats for a second half that was almost a damage-limitation exercise for Qatar.

The match was played after a colourful half-hour opening ceremony — fronted by Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman, who had a surprising star role.

Freeman followed alongside Ghanim Al Muftah, a 20-year-old Qatari man who was born with a rare condition that impairs development of the lower spine.

Freeman, wearing a beige glove because of an injury from a car crash in 2008, sat on the pitch beside Al Muftah.

“How can so many countries, languages and cultures come together if only one way is accepted?” Freeman told the crowd.

“When you call here, we welcome you into our home,” Al Muftah said, referencing the “bayt al sha’ar” or tent that nomadic bedouins of the Arabian peninsula once used for shelter, which inspired the stadium design.

The BBC opted not to broadcast the ceremony, instead pairing criticism of Qatar’s human rights record.

Morgan Freeman and Ghanim Al Muftah perform during the opening ceremony. Photo: Getty

The opening ceremony was attended by powerful dignitaries, including Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and said to promote inclusivity and mankind living “under one tent.”

For many, that would jar with this World Cup being hosting by an emirate where homosexual acts are illegal, and which has come under strong criticism for how migrant workers have been treated building stadiums and tournament infrastructure since Qatar won the scandal-shrouded vote in 2010.

Singer Jungkook of K-pop boy band BTS joined Qatari singer Fahad Al-Kubaisi to perform Dreamers, a new tournament song.

The start of the tournament was the culmination of 12 years of preparations that have transformed Qatar and have also exposed it to a barrage of criticism including over human rights.

K-pop singer Jungkook of BTS. Photo: Getty

The Qatari royals sat alongside other Arab leaders in a show of regional solidarity, including Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, two leaders who had boycotted Qatar for years. Not present were the leaders of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, the two other nations involved in the boycott.

No major Western leaders were there, as Qatar is under intense scrutiny for its treatment of the migrant workers who prepped the nation for the World Cup, as well as the LGBTQ community. Gay and lesbian sex is criminalised in Qatar.

Among those who did attend was United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

The stage-managed calm inside the stadium contrasted with reports of chaos at the fan festival at Al Bidda Park in Doha.

The venue has a capacity of 40,000 but at least double that number of people tried to make their way in.

-with AAP

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