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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Milo Boyd

World Cup fans less than impressed at fan village with brown water and dirt floors

Fans have been providing detailed reviews of their accommodation at the Qatar World Cup.

A huge amount has been made of the race to build facilities to cater for the hundreds of thousands of supporters making their way through the Middle Eastern country over the next two weeks.

The Qatari government has commissioned the construction of eight stadia, a luxurious hotel complex called The Pearl, a metro system and multiple skyscrapers.

A little less attention and a smaller chunk of the $200billion (£168bn) reportedly spent over the last ten years has been lavished on the accommodation laid out for the average fan.

Eight stadia were built, including the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium (Football Association of Wales)

Camera operator Emily Brooks spent the night at the Qetaifan Island Fan Village, which is just north of Doha.

The tents cost £175 for one night and have two beds in them, meaning they're just shy of £80 per person.

The fan accommodation has been criticised by early arrivals to the World Cup who have noted that it's not completely finished.

If you'd have driven or walked through the main entrance a day before the football kicked off and you'd have seen plenty of cranes at work and piles of building waste.

Emily arrived at her tent and, realising that the floor was a little bumpy, lifted up the carpet to reveal a dirt floor directly beneath.

Emily offered a glimpse inside the fan village (Reddit)
The tents have two single beds (Reddit)

She praised the wifi's strength and noted that the tent came with two padlocks to lock it, and had electricity.

She was less impressed with the lack of toilet paper and a kettle to make the sachets of coffee which came with her breakfast box in the morning.

The brown water which came out of the taps before running clear was another low-light.

"I would advise maybe letting the water run for a bit," Emily continues.

"I woke up in the morning and the first thing we noticed was the heat. We did have a fan, but at this point it was just pushing around the heat."

The BBC spoke to another fan who had rented out one of the tents over the weekend and found it "unbearable" to be inside during the day time because of the heat.

When asked how she found the showers, she woman said the water was brown.

"I brushed my teeth with my water bottle as that was cleaner than the water," she added.

The view of the fan village was very different from that shown by TikTok user @Smith_Hems, who appeared to have checked himself into much more luxurious accommodation.

A large double bed sat in the middle of his spacious tent, which had its own en-suite and air conditioning.

He had the luxury of cooling off in his own shower after playing on the camp's tennis courts.

While it is unclear how much @Smith_Hems forked out for the accommodation, it is clear he wasn't at the budget end of the spectrum.

Other fans are staying in the Fan Village Cabins Rawdat Al Jahhaniya, where a shipping container which has been converted into a room can be rented from £175 a night.

The village lies next to the Ahmad bin Ali stadium and has facilities including an outdoor gym, cinema screens, and food outlets, and access to a 24/7 reception.

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