An American journalist has claimed that he was detained on Monday after trying to enter World Cup stadium in Qatar — where same-sex relationships are outlawed — while wearing a rainbow shirt in support of the LGBT community.
Grant Wahl, a former writer for Sports Illustrated magazine who currently runs his own website, said World Cup security barred him from attending United States’ match against Wales at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan and asked him to take his shirt off.
He said his phone was taken away when he wrote about the incident on Twitter, racking up over
“I’m OK, but that was an unnecessary ordeal,” Wahl tweeted. “Was detained for nearly half an hour.”
The journalist subsequently claimed that a security commander later approached him, apologised and admitted him to the stadium.
Wahl also said he later received an apology from a representative of FIFA, football’s international governing body.
Seven European World Cup countries earlier on Monday scrapped plans for their respective captains to wear OneLove armbands — introduced to support diversity and inclusion — after FIFA threatened to issue yellow cards to any player wearing the multi-coloured armband.
Qatar has come under intense scrutiny from many Western countries over its treatment of the LGBT community and migrant workers, although FIFA’s head Gianni Infantino deemed such criticism ‘hypocritical’, stating that “Europeans should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before starting to give moral lessons to people.”