Sports

Did the 2022 World Cup Ban Lucha Libre Masks Inside Qatar Stadiums? – Here’s What We Know

Lead Photo: Front view portrait of Mexican football wearing wrestling mask while watching international championship match at stadium
Front view portrait of Mexican football wearing wrestling mask while watching international championship match at stadium

Last week, the Mexican government told its fans traveling to Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup that they should follow tournament policy and not wear their Lucha Libre wrestling masks to any fútbol matches.

“The latest update from the Organizing Committee is that masks will not be allowed,” Alfonso Zegbe, executive director of Strategy and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) in Mexico, said during an interview with ESPN Deportes. “Let’s not forget that we are in a complex region, which is the Middle East. In its latest update…masks are prohibited.”

Zegbe’s comments, however, contradict what the World Cup Organizing Committee has said on the matter. Apparently, Lucha Libre wrestling masks are allowed to be worn during matches. However, attendees will have to remove them before entering the stadium.

“Full face masks, like the famous Mexican wrestling masks, would obviously have to be removed for security reasons when entering a stadium,” the committee said in a statement. “This is not unlike security requesting that a mask be lowered, something we have all witnessed and experienced due to the COVID pandemic. No policy has been established or communicated that allows fans not to be able to wear such masks in any of the Qatar World Cup stadiums or other places in the country.”

An anticipated 60,000 Mexican fans will be attending the World Cup this year. According to ESPN, Mexico has purchased the second most “hospitality packages” of any country for the tournament. The only country that has bought more is the host country Qatar. A hospitality package includes access to the stadiums and to some special areas and lounges at the venues. The cost of the package ranges from $950 to $4,950.

This past summer, it was reported that the 2022 World Cup would be the first to ban alcohol inside the stadiums.