Joy for fans as German organisers scrap plans for booze ban at England’s Euro 2024 opener
FANS can down pints at England’s Euro 2024 opener after German organisers scrapped plans for a booze ban.
And the 4.8 per cent Bitburger lager sold at games and fan zones will be cheaper at £4 than similar pints back home.
ReutersGerman organisers have binned a planned booze ban for the Euros[/caption]
GettyHarry Kane in a promotional video for club Bayern Munich[/caption]
The news will cheer thousands of Three Lions supporters packing their bags for the tournament which kicks off in two weeks.
It comes after 2022’s Qatar World Cup where authorities pulled the plug on £14-a-pint beer sales with a day to go.
Fan Royston Wilson, 56, from Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, said: “This will really get the party started. Harry Kane and the lads have a great chance to win and we’ll be able to cheer them on with a pint of decent German beer — fantastic!”
England fans will also be used to shelling out up to £7-a-pint in pubs and restaurants thanks to inflation but will pay around £4 at the Euros.
Fans are allowed to drink in their seats at most German league games but rules will be tightened in line with English matches at the Euros.
Just two beers at a time can be bought at stadium bars and will need to be consumed before supporters take their seats to watch the action.
Restrictions on alcohol sales in glasses and bottles will be in place in parts of Gelsenkirchen city centre around match days as police throw a ring of steel around sensitive sites.
Calls for a ban followed fears of clashes with pro-Putin “ultras” when England start their campaign against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen.
Chief Police Director Peter Both confirmed no alcohol bans had been put in place at Euros stadia and none were planned.
He said: “In contrast to the league match, we have agreed that alcoholic drinks purchased in the stadium may not be taken into the stadium.
“This means that they cannot, as is usually the case, buy two carriers of beer and then take them to their seats.
“They are only allowed to consume alcoholic drinks at the stands.”
