No, but they shouldn't impose their customs on Europeans, especially if not doing so was a condition of their being awarded the right to host and hold the World Cup.
And, if their customs were of such importance, ths should have been made clear when the decision to award the World Cup was made, as to undertake certain commitments - and then renege on this two days before the competition is scheduled to start - is a clear demonstration of the most egregious and outrageous bad faith.
What else will they go back on?
What is their word worth?
This goes beyond customs and into the world of contracts.
If I were a sponsor, I'd pull the plug, and sue.
What else can it be considered as but sports washing, and a flagrant - and a contemptuous display of what we now refer to as "soft power"?
Qatar should never have been awarded the World Cup, and to attempt to separate the competition from the sordid and tawdry socio-economic and political background is to mistake the nature of this World Cup.
@Lord Blackadder has pointed out - correctly - that this action is deliberately giving two fingers of clear contempt to the west; it is, and the conflict in Ukraine has given Qatar (home to the world's largest reserves of gas) far greater influence and power than it could have imagined this time last year, when concerns were confined to the appalling number of deaths among those constructing the stadia in atrocious conditions.
However, this is not just about showing contempt for the west: These actions are also an expression of two fingers to Saudi-Arabia, with which Qatar has - and had - been in conflict, mostly though proxies in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere.
Well, yes.
One should hope so, otherwise gays (and indeed, women, not to mention reporters) may find that merely showing up may render them liable to arrest.
Well, yes.
You mean that slave labour should not be used when building a football stadium?
Slave labour and the sort of grotesque exploitation - informed by a corrosive contempt - whereby the construction works for this competition cost the lives of thousands of ill-treated and grotesquely exploited workers - is really nothing to celebrate and has been deservedly condemned (though not by FIFA, who really have shown how craven, corrupt and morally rotten they actually are).
There are two issues here:
One is that beer (and other alcohol) should be available - for those who wish to consume it - at an international footballing festival such as the World Cup.
The majority of those who will attend theese matches are not practising Muslims, and that, too, should be acknowledged by the hosts.
Secondly, Qatar had clearly committed - when their bid was accepted - to accommodating cultural differences (such as permitting the sale and consumption of alcohol at matches) and for them to renege on this - two days before the competition starts - is a very public, and egregious example of bad faith, and reneging on their word.
It also harms sponsors - and I write this as someone who thinks that Budweiser is actually a perfectly dreadful beer in terms of quality
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