A week before the opening game, tournament organizers are scrambling to balance late changes ordered by powerful Qatari officials with the interests of a major FIFA sponsor, Budweiser.
The message came from the highest levels of the Qatari state: The beer tents must be moved, and there would be no discussion about it.
With the opening game of the World Cup only days away, Qatari organizers have been working hurriedly in recent days to relocate Budweiser-branded beer stations at eight stadiums after a sudden demand that three people with knowledge of the belated change said had come from inside the country’s royal family.