Authorities at World Cup venues in Qatar have recently ordered two American journalists to take off clothing items with rainbow patterns.
A policeman informed Los Angeles Times reporter Kevin Baxter on Saturday (November 19, 2022) that wearing a rainbow-coloured mask was “not permitted” at the US national team’s training facility in Qatar.
Read: What is ‘One Love’ armband and why is FIFA against it in World Cup 2022?
Two days later, veteran US journalist Grant Wahl said that he was instructed by security to remove a shirt with a rainbow pattern around a football at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, where the US team was going to play Wales on Monday (November 21, 2022) night. FIFA stated the incident was an “error” and that it had been “resolved”, Yahoo Sports reported.
In a subsequent tweet, Wahl said that he had been held for “almost half an hour.” He said on his website that a security guard “forcefully ripped my phone from my hands” when he tweeted about the incident. After what he called an “ordeal,” he was eventually permitted to enter with the shirt on, the Yahoo Sports report added.
Read More: FIFA denies Belgium’s request to wear jerseys with “Love” label at Qatar World Cup
One of the many hot-button issues surrounding this World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, is LGBTQ rights. The joint World Cup organisers FIFA and the Supreme Committee have assured LGBTQ participants and supporters that they are welcome. Gianni Infantino, president of FIFA, said on Saturday that he has “been speaking about this topic with the highest leadership of the country — several times, not just once. And they have confirmed that I can confirm that everybody is welcome.”
However, seven European teams abandoned their plans to wear rainbow-coloured anti-discrimination armbands before the start of Monday’s game when FIFA threatened them with “sporting fines.” Two days before Belgium’s Group F match against Canada, ESPN reported that FIFA had ordered Belgium to remove the word “love” off the collar of their shirts.
Read: FIFA’s punishment threat forces European team captains to abandon ‘One Love’ armbands
FIFA World Cup 2022 organisers’ inability to oversee each and every local police officer and security guard in Qatar has long been a source of concern for Western officials and football fans. Grant Wahl said that a FIFA official had apologised to him.