The England stars and Wags will have a very different experience in Qatar (Picture: Getty / @jackgrealish)
The 2022 World Cup gets underway in Qatar next month, with the England team – and the Wags – close to putting the final preparations in place.
The iconic summer tournament – which typically takes place every four years after the end of the club football season – is instead taking place as part of a ‘winter break’ due to the heat in the host nation.
With England stars like Harry Kane, Jack Grealish, Jordan Pickford and more all likely to be picked for the team, it’s likely we’ll see their respective partners making the trip to show their support.
However, the soaring temperatures – even with the tournament running from November 20 until December 18 – won’t be the only difference for the likes of Kate Kane, Sasha Attwood and Megan Davison.
The 2022 World Cup is going to be unlike any other tournament, with the laws and customs in Qatar varying massively from those we’re used to in the UK.
It means Brits attending next month – fans, players and Wags alike – will need to be extra aware of their behaviour and the risks involved, and there’ll be no repeat of the infamous Wags controversy in 2006 with boozy nights, dancing on tables and rocketing hotel bills providing a huge distraction off the pitch.
Harry Kane could be joined by his wife Kate for the tournament (Picture: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
The players and their partners will have to follow different laws and culture (Picture: @jackgrealish)
The government has issued plenty of advice online for people flying out to Qatar, noting that there ‘may be serious penalties for doing something that might not be illegal in the UK, such as the importation of certain goods’.
‘This includes pork products, e-cigarettes/vapes or anything that can be perceived as pornography,’ the advice page adds, while alcohol will be entirely different to previous World Cups.
‘Qatari authorities are still finalising the policies relating to the sale and consumption of alcohol during the World Cup,’ the advice page explains. ‘Alcohol is currently only available to visitors at licenced hotel restaurants and bars.
Cheryl – then with Ashley Cole – and Victoria Beckham were among those who jetted out to Germany in 2006 (Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
Alex Curran, Carly Zucker, Toni Poole and the girls made the headlines at the time (Picture: Chris Uncle/FilmMagic)
‘The legal drinking age in Qatar is 21. It is an offence to drink alcohol or be drunk in a public place. See local laws and customs for more information.’
Although it’s said ‘private life in Qatar is largely respected’, homosexuality is illegal in the country, while ‘any intimacy between persons in public can be considered offensive, regardless of gender, sexual orientation or intent’.
Qatari authorities have reassured fans that ‘everyone is welcome’ at the World Cup, while they have confirmed publicly that there will be ‘no restrictions on non-married friends or couples (including LGBT) staying in the same room’.
Coleen Rooney – who later married Wayne in 2008 – was part of the Wags group abroad (Picture: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Danielle Lloyd – then with forward Teddy Sheringham – was another member of the group that caused quite a stir (Picture: Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)
This means the likes of Grealish, Pickford and others will still be able to share rooms with their female partners, despite the cultural differences when it comes to pre-marital relations.
It’s a far cry from the infamous 2006 World Cup in Germany, when the players’ partners became a big distraction from the on-field activities.
The likes of Cheryl, Coleen Rooney, Alex Curran and more made the headlines back then, and now-Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville would later insist it ‘won’t happen again’, with the FA learning ‘from the experience’.
‘The FA learned from the experience in 2006. The England team did. The England players did. That wasn’t ideal for anybody. It was symptomatic of the times. Between 2002 and 2007 everyone got carried away with everything in life,’ he said in 2012.
‘It is a different world now and those mistakes won’t happen again under any manager or any regime. The platform won’t be given. We are managing it this time in a completely different way. We are here to play football. We are here to work.’
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There won’t be a repeat of 2006.