England fans ‘claim they partied with Qatari sheikh’s son in palace and petted a LION cub’

Qatar’s World Cup has only just begun, but it’s been known to ban beer from football stadiums – which doesn’t exactly seem like a recipe for a great night out.

But that didn’t stop two England fans from partying with a “sheikh’s son” after their “beer hunt” ended in a palace surrounded by “lions, monkeys and exotic birds.”

Alex Sullivan and a friend who only identified himself as “John” certainly made the best of a bad situation on Saturday night when two Qatari men they called Nawaf and Abdul-Aziz invited them to a “naughty” party at their home.

The England fan told talkSPORT that it had been a “crazy” experience while they were looking for beer

Everton fan Alex told TalkSport: ‘We were out hunting for some beer and they said ‘We’ll sort beer’, so we jumped in the back of his Toyota Land Cruiser and ended up in a big palace.

“We sat in the back and he showed us monkeys, his exotic birds, it was crazy.”

John added, “Last night we met one of the sheikh’s sons and he took us back to the palace and he showed us he had lions and everything.

‘They made us so welcome and look around you, it doesn’t get any better than this.’

Obviously, Twitter users were quick to question this tall tale, but Alex produced the receipts in the form of videos from his Snapchat account.

In it, he can be seen recounting the night as it happens – including the moment he showed up at the “palace” and the moment he met a lion cub.

One footage shows him walking up a driveway to what appears to be a large house in Qatar.

He says, ‘We’re on a beer mission, trying to get beers back to the gaff and I’ve only managed to get us back to a***in… a naughty one with Nawaf and Abdul-Aziz.

“We just got startled.”

In another footage, he can be seen outside under floodlights next to what appears to be a set of football nets with a group of men dressed in traditional Qatari thobes – long white robes – and headdresses.

A video posted on social media shows the men watching the lion cub in a cage

The lion was then taken out of its cage and the men played with it

The group said they had a good time as they spent the evening in the company of the Qataris

Alex then sits down on a chair and begins petting and kissing a playful lion cub on a leash. “F***in’ crazy,” he exclaims.

More videos showed him walking around what appeared to be a palatial home, hanging out with the locals and speeding down a highway in a car.

The wild night out – worthy of the Hangover film franchise – comes this afternoon on the eve of England’s first game against Iran.

The tournament has been mired in controversy in a clash of cultures between Qatar – the first Muslim country to host – and football’s governing bodies.

There has been much criticism of the country’s human rights record, including allegations that thousands of migrant workers have died building the stadiums.

Qatar’s record on LGBT and women’s rights — including comments from the country’s World Cup ambassador that homosexuality is a “disease of the mind” — have further damaged its image.

Fresh controversy came last week in the form of an announcement that FIFA would ban the sale of beer in stadium halls, further limiting the number of places in normally teetotal Qatar where fans can purchase alcohol.

The move, reportedly made under pressure from the Qatari royal family, means supporters are restricted to buying booze in hotels, restaurants and specially designated fan zones.

Drinks can only be purchased in the zones between certain times and people will be limited to four drinks each to avoid getting drunk.

Anyone who gets drunk can be led away to get sober.