Qatar reportedly offers refunds and different accomodation for fans in 'sub-par' tent village

Qatar officials have reportedly offered refunds and free accommodation to fans staying in the tent villages following a sea of issues.

With the World Cup kicking off earlier this week, reports soon emerged of supporters being less than pleased with the $300 (£175) a night fan village accommodation.

The Sun now reports that Fan Village Cabins Zafaran and Fav Village Cabins Free Zone were hit with major issues.

Fans were allegedly left sleeping rough and having to find alternative accommodation, whilst others simply couldn’t access their already booked rooms.

Just wanted to update @GCOQatar that the fan village in the free zone has people waiting for more than 6 hours to get a room they have paid for. @FIFAWorldCup @qatar help? pic.twitter.com/4RL7qVejlE

— Bilal Jaleel (@bilaljaleel_) November 22, 2022

The publication reports that fans had problems at check-in with some claiming that many were told there wasn’t enough room for them.

This is despite them already booking the accommodation in advance.

Temporary villages had been popped up to help accommodate more than one million fans at the World Cup.

Qatari officials confirmed to The Sun that the villages had not met up to standard and as a result fans would be offered full refunds and free alternative accommodation.

In a statement, they told The Sun: “We are aware that a number of fans have faced delays checking into select Fan Village accommodation due to owner and operator negligence.

"A section of units in these facilities, which are delivered and managed by different private entities, have not met the required standards that were advertised to fans.

"While these sites are managed by independent commercial entities, rectifying these issues remains the utmost priority for the Supreme Committee.

"Full refunds are being offered to fans severely impacted by this issue as well as alternative accommodation which will be free of charge for the duration of their stay."

SPORTbible reached out to Qatar officials to confirm the reports.

Earlier this week, BBC posted a video showing the fan village and the tents that supporters will be sleeping in.

🗣 "Right now it's unbearable to be inside"
🗣 "The water is like brown when you open it"
🗣 "Youre going to walk away having spent that much money?"

The World Cup fan village in Qatar 😳pic.twitter.com/kgTNyju76N

— SPORTbible (@sportbible) November 20, 2022

The tents are not air-conditioned and fans will only be given a fan to cool themselves down in the middle of the desert. A pad lock is given as security to lock their tents.

Most people were not happy with what they had paid for.

A fan from Japan said: “I cannot change where to stay right now so I have to accept it and wait for Japan's match.

“I’ll only be here for sleep. I'll go out and explore the city - I don't want to stay here.”

Pedro and Fatima, who traveled to Qatar from Spain to support Mexico said: “It costs about £175 a night. To be honest it wasn't what I expected. When you see the pictures and read the description - and it's a Fifa World Cup - you expect a little bit of quality.

“This is like a sub-par hostel that you can find backpacking across the world.”

Pedro added: “It's like being in a greenhouse, so we weren't able to sleep past 9am even though we were exhausted because of the flight.”

Whilst Fatima said: “There's no organisation whatsoever, no one knows anything.

“The stores are closed, and there's no drinking water. This is really, definitely, not what we paid for.”

Djamal, who travelled from Paris and paid £2,700 for a three-week stay left after less than 24 hours.

He said: “For me it's not a good experience. There's no shower gel, no toothbrush, no toothpaste.”