World Cup Security Denying Entry to Those Supporting LGBTQ+ Rights
(CNN) -- Some people attending 2022 World Cup matches have said they have experienced difficulties in Qatar when trying to enter stadiums wearing clothing in support of LGBTQ rights.At the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Monday, ahead of the United States Men's National Team's (USMNT) match with Wales, US football journalist Grant Wahl and former Wales captain Laura McAllister both said they had been told to remove rainbow-colored items of clothing by security staff.Wahl said he was detained and briefly refused entry to the match because of the "rainbow soccer ball t-shirt" he was wearing, posting on Twitter that security staff had told him: "You have to change your shirt.
It's not allowed."The journalist wrote on his website that when he tweeted about the incident on his phone, "one guard forcibly ripped my phone from my hands.""One security guard told me that my shirt was 'political' and not allowed," Wahl wrote. "Another continually refused to give me back my phone.
Another guard yelled at me as he stood above me -- I was sitting on a chair by now -- that I had to remove my shirt."Wahl said he was released 25 minutes after being detained and received apologies from a FIFA representative and a senior member of the security team at the stadium.Wahl told CNN on Tueday that he had been given assurances beforehand that he would be allowed to wear rainbow-decorated clothing and that he "probably will" wear the shirt again as he has "no fear here about any of this."When asked about standing up for the LGBTQ community, Wahl said: "It's really important to me and it's not required by any stretch of the imagination."I've got family members who are gay.
