<<Print>>

A last-minute decision to ban the sale of alcohol at Qatar's World Cup stadiums will seriously limit Budweiser sales in the Gulf state, but will not derail its owner's global campaign during the tournament, industry analysts said.

Soccer world governing body FIFA's announcement of the ban on Friday, just two days before the event kicks off, leaves the world's largest brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI.BR) with at least a headache.

Budweiser, the major World Cup sponsor it owns, had been set to exclusively sell alcoholic beer within the ticketed perimeter surrounding each of the eight stadiums three hours before and one hour after each game during the four-week event.