The article says that the announcement that fans couldn't drink beer was a reversal of a previously stated policy. Was this not the case, or can you explain why

The article says that the announcement that fans couldn't drink beer was a reversal of a previously stated policy. Was this not the case, or can you explain why people should have expected that the previous policy statement shouldn't have been taken seriously? Given the precedent the articles cites of Brazil literally changing national laws based on FIFA lobbying, it's not obvious why the assumption should have been that the previous policy was either in error or an an attempt to pressure Qatar that would inevitably fail rather than it being an announcement of a deal that was worked out behind closed doors and the parties wanted to keep out of the spotlight.