According to the UK’s football policing lead, there were no arrests among England or Wales fans at the World Cup in Qatar.
Cheshire Police Chief Constable Mark Roberts stated that this is the first time that no UK fans have been arrested during a World Cup.
“England and Wales’ behaviour in Qatar was absolutely exemplary,” Roberts said. “Throughout the home nations’ involvement in the tournament there were no arrests or incidents to report, which is a credit to all those who travelled.
“In Russia 2018 there were three arrests, but obviously having two teams in this tournament we played double the group-stage games, including a home nations derby, which underlines the good nature of our fans.
“I would also like to praise all the UK officers who travelled out to Qatar for the work they have done in helping to keep British nationals safe during the past four weeks.
What was different about this World Cup after having fans arrested at every previous World Cup? Hmmm. What could it possibly be?
The first World Cup with no arrests from the United Kingdom is also the first World Cup without free-flowing alcohol. This is most likely a good example of Occam’s razor.
In Qatar, alcohol is typically only available in licenced hotel bars and restaurants. The country made an exception for the World Cup, allowing alcohol at the official fan fest and inside stadium perimeters before and after games.
But that arrangement was scrapped just two days before the tournament when FIFA announced that no alcohol would be sold in stadiums at all.
Roberts would not fully admit that the lack of arrests was due to a lack of alcohol, but he was willing to speculate that there might be a link.
“It would be incorrect to attribute this excellent behaviour entirely to the alcohol restrictions in Qatar, but I do believe it has helped to some extent,” Roberts said.
