Qatar may take rainbow flags from World Cup fans to ‘protect’ them, official says
- A general in charge of security for the football tournament says this is to avoid people being attacked for promoting gay rights
- He insisted, however, that LGBT couples would be welcomed and accepted, despite same-sex relations remaining criminalised in the Gulf nation
Rainbow flags could be taken from fans at the World Cup in Qatar to protect them from being attacked for promoting gay rights, a senior leader overseeing security for the tournament said.
Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari insisted that LGBT couples would be welcomed and accepted in Qatar for the November 21-December 18 Fifa showpiece despite same-sex relations remaining criminalised in the conservative Gulf nation.
But Al Ansari is against the overt promotion of LGBT freedoms as symbolised by the rainbow flag that Fifa and World Cup organisers had previously said would be welcome across Qatar’s eight stadiums.
“If [a fan] raised the rainbow flag and I took it from him, it’s not because I really want to, really, take it, to really insult him, but to protect him,” Al Ansari said.
Reserve the room together, sleep together – this is something that’s not in our concern. We are here to manage the tournament
“Because if it’s not me, somebody else around him might attack [him] … I cannot guarantee the behaviour of the whole people. And I will tell him: ‘Please, no need to really raise that flag at this point.’”