World Cup chaos: Qatari riot police push back crowds at fanzones – Nationwide

A fanzone set up in central Doha turned into a chaotic scene on Sunday, the opening day of the World Cup, as tens of thousands of fans pushed and pushed police lines to enter the venue.

Fans were trying to enter an enclosed area that included big screen TVs to watch the game, places to buy beer, and more.

Riot police armed with batons and shields guarded the entrance. Some fans pleaded with officers to let them through the line.

Shortly after the Qatar-Ecuador opener kicked off in Al Khor, another Qatari city, only a handful of pregnant women and fans with disabilities were allowed into the fanzone through a special skip-the-line entrance. it was done.

“It’s very dangerous. People could die,” said Hatem El-Berarri, an Iraqi who said he worked in neighboring Dubai. “Neither old people nor women can handle this kind of crowd. Thank God. I’m a little taller, so I can breathe. But I saw some children and said, ‘Get up.’ Told. they can’t breathe ”

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He said he saw people pushing and pushing and women crying.

“My family is inside. I can’t go in to see them anymore. I don’t know what to do.”

Luis Reyes, a Mexican-American living in Los Angeles, likened the scene to the murder of more than 150 people in South Korea a few weeks ago.

“You can’t go back, you can’t go forward,” he said. “I told my son, ‘Let’s go outside.’ It’s too dangerous.”

It was not clear if anyone was injured or arrested.

The deployment of the riot police came after a similar incident on Saturday night when people tried to force their way inside Doha’s Corniche fanzone in Al Bidda Park at a pre-World Cup concert.

© 2022 The Canadian Press