England Fans Set to Abandon the World Cup in Qatar

It’s 2022 and the World Cup season is upon us all. The competition is being held in Qatar in December, a deviation from the usual months of June and July. However, not every fan is excited about the biggest competition in football.

Several fans in England could abandon the tournament in Qatar after failing to receive reasonably-priced accommodation in the country. A report from i News in the UK detailed the problems the fans were facing, especially the members of the England Supporters Travel Club (ESTC).

ESTC members and their miseries

The members are able to get their tickets via an allocation from the English Football Association. Moreover, they can apply for World Cup accommodation via FIFA’s fan portal when in possession of a ticket. However, the fans would have to wait till the end of May to get their tickets finalized.

This creates the problem of them finding accommodation in the country during that time. The external booking agencies are quoting exorbitantly high prices for places, with one English fan being quoted the astonishing figure of about $25,000 for eight nights on a cruise ship.

According to a report from the Sun, the English FA was given around 2500 seats for England’s first group game against Iran. The match will be played in the Khalifa International Stadium on November 21st, and members would have a similar amount of tickets for the next few games.

However, given their accommodation troubles, it’s going to be hard for the members to travel to the company and Gareth Southgate’s men could be playing without their most passionate supporters in the World Cup.

England and their chances at the World Cup

England came very close to winning their first trophy in a very long time when they reached the final of the Euros in 2021. Even though they lost to Italy, it was a statement from manager Gareth Southgate and his young team.

Players like Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka have continued their fine form this season for their clubs. Moreover, stars like Ben White, Phil Foden, and Declan Rice have improved even more. The team looks really good and it’ll be interesting to see how far they can go in the competition.

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