Reporter ‘detained’ for wearing rainbow T-shirt to World Cup match

Grant Wahl was let into the stadium after an ‘unnecessary ordeal’ (Picture: Twitter/@GrantWahl)

An American journalist says he was detained at the Qatar World Cup because he was wearing a T-shirt displaying an LGBTQ+ rainbow.

Grant Wahl said a security guard refused to let him into the stadium when he tried to enter to watch the USA-Wales game this evening.

The guard reportedly told him: ‘You have to change your shirt, it’s not allowed’ before he ‘forcibly ripped’ Grant’s phone out of his hands.

The reporter says another member of staff at the stadium said his shirt was ‘political’ while someone else ‘stood above’ him and said: ‘You can make this easy. Take off your shirt.’

Grant was eventually let into the media centre after what he called ‘an unnecessary ordeal’.

The sports writer, from New York, tweeted: ‘I’m still wearing my shirt. Was detained for nearly half an hour. Go gays.’

Wales’ Rainbow Wall, a group of LGBTQ+ supporters, have meanwhile tweeted that female supporters wearing rainbow bucket hats have had them confiscated.

The group said: ‘Our rainbow bucket hats – we are so proud of them. But news on the ground tonight is our welsh female supporters wearing them in Qatar are having them taken off them. Not the men, just women.

A US supporter was also reportedly threatened on the Metro for carrying a small rainbow flag while travelling to the stadium.

The man who appeared to be a Qatar supporter threatened to ‘kill’ him and was saying the flag ‘was not allowed’.

‘We have our own culture.’ he added.

Wales and US fans, as well as Qatari security guards, are said to have intervened to protect the fan carrying the flag.

LGBTQ+ rights have been at the forefront of discussions about the World Cup today.

Harry Kane was supposed to wear the OneLove armband in protest at the World Cup (Picture: PA)

England’s team went back on its promise to have captain Harry Kane wear the OneLove armband in protest of homosexuality being illegal – and technically punishable by death – in Qatar.

Kane and the captains of six other nations were going to wear the anti-discrimination symbol before FIFA threatened punishment for doing so.

The captains could have been shown yellow cards before they played for not wearing the armbands issued by FIFA, which they clearly decided was too much of a threat, so opted against making the gesture.

England manager Gareth Southgate added little to the discussion when asked about it, telling the BBC: ‘Well a lot of discussions have been going on without me involved because I’ve been focused on the game.

‘We’re wearing the FIFA armband, that was decided by the collective federations overnight I believe.

‘We are in the middle of that. We’re just trying to focus on the game, frankly.’

TV presenter and football legend Alex Scott was later spotted sporting the rainbow armband as an act of defiance against Qatar’s stance on LGBTQ+ issues.

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‘You have to change your shirt’, he was told.