A group of England fans at the World Cup couldn’t believe their luck when a Qatari businessman invited them back to his mega mansion for lunch after he had spotted one of them wearing a Wolverhampton Wanderers shirt.
Jassa Dehal and his friends were left stunned when the wealthy man, known only as Omar, sent a car to pick them up from their hotel in Doha the day after meeting them in a bar.
Omar had struck up a conversation with the group at their hotel after he spotted Jassa wearing a Wolverhampton Wanderers shirt.
Jassa Dehal and his friends couldn’t believe their luck when a Qatari businessman invited them back to his mega mansion for lunch after he had spotted one of them wearing a Wolverhampton Wanderers shirt. Pictured: Jessa with two Qatari men
Jassa Dehal and his friends were left stunned when the wealthy man, known only as Omar, sent a car to pick them up from their hotel in Doha the day after meeting him in a bar. The friends were then driven to Omar’s sprawling mansion where he had laid on a feast for lunch (pictured)
They quickly bonded over their love of football and exchanged numbers before Jassa got a message the next day saying: ‘There is a car waiting for you.’
The friends were then driven to Omar’s sprawling mansion where he had laid on a feast for lunch, including a football-themed fruit platter.
They were then given a tour of the mansion and invited to swim in his pool before they all stayed to watch Japan’s shock 2-1 victory over Germany.
Jassa, who runs a butchers in Wolverhampton, said the experience had been ‘amazing’ and they had been ‘blown away’ by their host’s kindness.
The lunch included a football-themed fruit platter (pictured)
Jassa and his friends couldn’t believe their luck when a Qatari businessman invited them back to his mega mansion for lunch after he had spotted one of them wearing a Wolverhampton Wanderers shirt. Pictured: Jassa Dehal (Wolves shirt) and his new friends
He said: ‘You cannot even dream of what happened to us. We were in the bar of our hotel and he came over and said he knew Wolves.
‘He noticed my Wolves shirt and we started talking about football, Wolves, Raul Jimenez and he said he was a Manchester United fan.
‘He was really knowledgeable and knew a lot about Wolves, he knew we’d sacked the manager.
‘He was such a nice, hospitable man, he started buying our food and drinks and didn’t allow us to pay, but wanted to make us feel welcome in his home-country.’
Jassa explained that they had spoken about football and Omar had taken his number.
He said: ‘Next day I get a call from him saying his driver is waiting outside our hotel to take us to his place.
‘It said, “There is a car waiting for you”. We couldn’t believe it. We were shocked, as we didn’t expect that to happen at all.
‘We went to his house which was a massive mansion. We then sat with him, had tea and biscuits and he showed us around the house.
‘Then we all watched the Germany vs Japan match and we sat and ate with him in the dining room on a huge dining table.
‘When going around the house he took us to the swimming pool area and he said we could go for a swim but we weren’t dressed for it.
Jassa (pictured bottom right at the World Cup), who runs a butchers in Wolverhampton, said the experience had been ‘amazing’ and they had been ‘blown away’ by their host’s kindness
‘It was just a surreal experience and it shows that the hospitality of the Qatari people is top class.’
Jassa added: ‘We have experienced nothing but great hospitality and friendliness here in Qatar. The people in Qatar have been amazing. They are absolutely diamond people.
‘They know they are getting a hard time in the media but we’ve had nothing but kindness from everyone.’
The group of friends, from Wolverhampton, Dudley, West Midlands, London and New Zealand, said they were unaware of Omar’s background as he was ‘very modest’.
Jessa added: ‘We called him prince, but he said, ‘Please don’t call me that, I am one of you’.’
Jessa and his pals have tickets for the first three England games and also attended the Portugal vs Ghana yesterday (Thurs).
He said: ‘It was a mission to organise – making sure we had the tickets and the accommodation, but being here is amazing,
‘Of course with many Wolves players Portugal is our second team.
‘The whole experience has been fantastic, lots of mixing in with different nationalities.’
England fan who ‘met Sheikh while shopping for beers in supermarket’ reveals what went on ‘inside £460m mansion’ on his first day at Qatar World Cup
By Alastair Lockhart
An England fan has revealed what went on when he found himself ‘in a £460million palace with a lion cub’ on his first night out at the Qatar World Cup.
Alex Sullivan, 23, went out in Doha with his father Tommy and their friend John to ‘look for some beers’ at a supermarket when they claim to have met a member of the Emir of Qatar’s family.
After meeting the royal and his friends, the trio say they were invited for a drive in a Lamborghini back to the huge palace on the outskirts of the city, which included its own private zoo.
The father and son said they were apprehensive at first, but soon found themselves in the lap of luxury thanks to the hospitality of their super-rich Qatari hosts, who they said were ‘incredibly generous and hospitable’.
He claimed they were ‘down to earth and friendly,’ adding, ‘we had a really good conversation with them’.
Their story quickly went viral across social media as football fans around the world expressed their disbelief at the astonishing tale.
The group of England fans said they were invited back to a palace by a group of Qatari royals. The lion cub can be seen sitting on the sofa in the centre
Alex posted videos of himself playing with a lion cub after their night out at the Qatar World Cup
Alex told The Mirror: ‘They were incredibly generous and hospitable and we had a great time. They had been asleep most of the day but they took us for a drive in the Lamborghini. I filmed that and also played with a lion cub.
‘He had his own personal zoo with the lion cub, various birds of prey and some monkeys. They are obviously very powerful people in business. The palace was worth about two billion Qatari Riyal [£460 million].
‘But they were so down to earth and friendly, we had a really good conversation with them.’
Alex posted a video of himself in the palace grounds with a lion cub on his first day in the country, to the amazement of those who were sceptical of their claims after they were revealed in an interview with TalkSPORT.
Alex described how the Qataris they met offered them a lift to the palace in their Lamborghini
The group shared photos of themselves relaxing and playing games with their hosts in what they said was a £460 million palace
Alex post videos of the unbelievable night out on snapchat as it unfolded just outside of Doha
In one piece of footage, he can be seen walking up a driveway to what appears to be the palace.
He says: ‘We’re on a beer mission, trying to get beers back at the gaff and I’ve only managed to get us back to a f***in… a naughty one with Nawaf and Abdul-Aziz.
‘We’ve just rocked up.’
In another piece of footage he can be seen sitting outside under floodlights next to what appear to be a set of football nets with a group of men dressed in traditional Qatari thobes – long white robes – and headdresses.
Alex then sits down on a chair and begins petting and kissing a playful lion cub on a leash. ‘F***in’ mad,’ he exclaims.
John told TalkSport: ‘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’ve made us so welcome and look around you, it doesn’t get any better than this.’