Qatar woos the rich with luxury World Cup

DUBAI: With deluxe match packages selling for thousands of dollars and five-star hotels doing a brisk trade, a sheen of glamour coats Qatar's World Cup despite football's working-class roots.

A penchant for luxury in the energy-rich Gulf state, which has one of the world's highest GDPs per head, has rubbed off on an unusually high-end edition of a tournament for the masses.

If you're able to spring US$4,950 for a VIP ticket to a group game, you can enjoy drinks, a six-course meal and entertainment at a lounge overlooking the halfway line at Lusail Stadium, north of Doha.

Those with bottomless budgets in the resource-rich region have attractive accommodation options too, with one third-party site offering US$4,000-a-night hotel rooms and US$26,000 for a "head of state" suite - with a 30-night minimum stay.

Things are a little different for ordinary fans.

Cheaper options include a steel bed in a shared room in the semi-desert near the capital at US$84 a night, or accommodation on docked cruise ships from US$179 to US$800.

Stadium crowds will include Qatar's migrant labourers, who were offered some tickets at 40 riyals (US$11) to watch a sport whose players and core supporters are traditionally blue-collar.

According to Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, the onus on "premium" experiences has left some fans cold.

"It's clear that there's a focus on a type of premium tourism, but the vast majority that go to a World Cup are middle-class," Evain told AFP.

"They're not the sort of people who can afford to stay on a cruise liner at US$5,000 a week."

The hordes of ticketless fans that usually descend on a World Cup will be reduced in number, as only ticket holders and up to three guests each can enter Qatar