Qatari officials have offered refunds and free accommodation to fans stuck in shoddy tent villages at the World Cup.
Reports have poured in since the start of the World Cup of furious supporters forced to pay A$313 a night to stay in rubbish cabins with leaky toilets and six-hour queues.
Qatar has rushed to knock up a number of “fan villages” to accommodate the more than one million fans expected to travel to the country during the four-week tournament.
But many have complained that there were six-hour queues to enter the “sauna-like” cabins and that many sites were still unfinished.
On Sunday, one disgusted World Cup fan walked away from his accommodation despite paying more than A$4,477.
The Sun already revealed that one visited by our reporter was as hot as 37C.
Two of the fan camps – Fan Village Cabins Zafaran and Fan Village Cabins Free Zone – were reportedly hit with major issues last night.
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Fans reportedly were left sleeping rough, having to find alternative accommodation or waiting for up to six hours as they couldn’t access their pre-booked rooms.
Multiple fans reported problems at check-in – with some even claiming they were told there simply wasn’t a room for them despite having a booking confirmation after forking out hundreds of dollars.
Others arrived in Qatar to see their rooms still under construction.
And those that did get through complained about poor conditions not worth the price they forked out for the stay at the World Cup.
Earlier on Wednesday, tensions reportedly spilt over, with one official seen trying to keep order in the fan zone.
The country’s Supreme Committee confirmed to The Sun that it was aware of the issues facing fans.
And they confirmed they would be offering full refunds to fans and free alternative accommodation.
In a statement, the Qatari Supreme Committee 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.”
Supporters who turned up to their accommodation in recent days have described the fan villages as “unfinished”, with pictures showing workmen still on site, and piles of rubble littering the parks.
“The beds are super hard and they only clean your room every three days – and I’ve had to chase down towels or toiletries,” one American fan staying at Zafaran until Friday told The Sun Online.
“There is a lot of activity at the reception desk with many waiting a long time to ask question or get checked in.”
“The waits don’t surprise me.”
Another football fan, who had also travelled form the US, compared the situation to the infamous Fyre Festival as hundreds of people were left stranded without food and water.
“This is outrage and now looking for other options as we have officially been robbed,” he said.
“Checking in at Zafaran is an absolute disaster. Waiting for over four hours for a room.”
And another fan, who travelled nearly 11,000km to be in Qatar from Canada, said the Free Zone Fan Village was a “complete disaster”.
“People had been waiting for over four hours and all the staff just disappeared saying most of the rooms aren’t ready or people haven’t previously checked out,” he said.
He arrived at the fanzone at 10am, had his bags taken away, but then didn’t get a room until 4am.
And another punter complained of a leaking shower and toilet in his cabin, as well as overpriced food and terrible transport links to the stadiums.
He urged all fans to use taxis.
The tiny container-style cabins house two people in a cramped bedroom with an en-suite shower – and the metal structures are left baking beneath the blazing sun.
The sites have little shade – but do have food stalls, big screens to watch the games, and on-site supermarkets.
Football fans also vented their frustration on social media, with one Saudi Arabian footie fan sharing videos of huge crowds gathered outside the village.
Police were reportedly called to help keep order amongst the frustrated football fans.
He accused the authorities of “overbooking” the site – claiming many fans were left without any accommodation at all.
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The dedicated “World Cup Fans” account posting a lengthy thread on the situation to its more than 4,000 followers.
The account – which provides information on tickets and accommodation for fans – vented the situation at the two villages had “turned the joy of fans into misery”.
“Hundreds of fans from different countries of the world who have confirmed reservations in the fan villages suffered and are still suffering from mismanagement of the fan villages,” it wrote.
It went on: “The majority of the rooms have been received and are in a dirty state in the full sense of the word and are not suitable for human habitation
“The majority of cabins have a problem with airconditioning, and there is no solution, and they have become more like sauna rooms, especially during the day.”
Qatar has already faced questions over organisation of the World Cup – with reports weeks before the start that the nation simply was not ready.
Confusion over the sale of beer, infrastructure problems and reports of crowd trouble at the fanzone have already surfaced.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was republished with permission.
