TWO England fans at the World Cup have revealed how the son of a Qatari Sheikh asked them if he wanted to see his lion before driving them back to his palace in a Lamborghini.
Alex and his father Tommy Sullivan were in a supermarket close to their accommodation looking for food and beer when they bumped into the multi-millionaire Sheikh who invited them for a tour of his mansion.
The pair appeared on ITV’s This Morning where they recounted their incredible World Cup adventure to Holly and Phil.
Alex said that after the two men, who he named as two of the Qatari Sheikh’s sons Nawaf and Abdul-Aziz, admired their tops with the England Three Lions’ crest, they invited them to get in their car and see his private zoo, where he had his own lion.
They zoomed through the streets of Doha in his Lamborghini, listening to the 1980 early hip-hop classic “Rapper’s Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang.
At the enormous palace, he said the Sheikh made them coffee and they played FIFA and pool while chatting with the mega-rich heir.
And they have since had the chance to meet up with the pair again when they went out to eat.
Their unbelievable story first went viral after they spoke to talkSPORT in one of the fan zones in Qatar.
But after some cast doubt over their claims, Alex shared remarkable videos from their night out as proof of their exploits.
In the videos originally posted on Alex’s Snapchat, he can be seen playing with a lion cub while his father and a friend chat to the Sheikh and his entourage.
On Wednesday morning, they revealed exactly how the night unfolded.
Both were wearing similar tops with the England badge alongside that of their beloved Everton that they were wearing on the night they met the Sheikh.
Tommy told Holly and Phil: “He said, ‘I love your top, three lions. I have a lion.’”
Alex went on: “We got in his car, you would have loved it, Holly, he put ‘Rapper’s Delight’ on. We were dancing all night to the palace.”
He admitted they were “apprehensive at first” about getting in a stranger’s car, but were “on such a buzz” after their first day in Qatar that they squashed their fears.
They then arrived at the enormous complex, which Alex said was the size of Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, plus its car park.
Inside were football pitches, paddle courts, and multiple properties, one of which was the Sheikh’s “man cave”.
Alex said: “He took us round to what looked like a man cave sort of thing. That’s when they made us coffees, we played FIFA, we played pool, we just had great conversations.
“They became our friends.”
He acknowledged they had received some backlash after Alex was filmed playing with a captive lion cub at the Sheikh’s private zoo.
“We had a little bit of backlash from people who don’t approve, I thought that as well, but you see the size of this zoo, there are workers looking after them, they get fed every day, the lions are getting whisked round in Lamborghinis,” he said.
“All I’m doing is I’m just reporting what I’m seeing.”
He said that the videos were only meant to be seen by his close friends and that he had a panic once they went viral and the identities of their two Qatari pals were released.
But he said they had since met up with the pair, and they were perfectly happy with the footage being shared around the world.
“We went back to the restaurant, we had something to eat with them, and that’s when they said ‘It’s absolutely fine, you’ve done a great job showing our hospitality,’” he said.
And he also claimed they had been blown away by how they had been received by all of the Qataris they had met.
“It’s been absolutely fantastic, every prejudice has been destroyed, no matter who you speak to, whether it’s the highest-ranking family or the workers who are so lovely as well,” he said.
“Everyone’s so hospitable and so friendly and kind, we’re really enjoying our time here and we’ve got another few weeks here.”
