A BBC team was prevented from entering the Al Bayt Stadium in Doha ahead of the England-USA match.
The person who tells it is the BBC journalist herself, Natalie Pirks, who denounced the incident on Twitter.
I just arrived at Al Bayt Stadium for the England game and my cameraman, wearing the rainbow watch strap his son gave him, was stopped by security and refused entry. Clearly, the message from FIFA is STILL not getting through. pic.twitter.com/BiBkV8fRgq
— Natalie Pirks (@Natpirks) November 25, 2022
According to the journalist, the image reporter who was accompanying her was arrested at the entrance to the stadium when he tried to enter with the colored bracelet, which would have been a gift from his son. “Clearly, FIFA is STILL NOT getting the message”criticized Pirks on the social network.
After speaking by phone with an emergency line for people with difficulties entering the stadiums, the journalists were finally admitted inside the venue.
This is just the latest example of the restrictions imposed by the organization of the World Cup on any type of props that could be alluding to the cause of the rights of the LGBTQIA + community. Already on Tuesday, before the match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia, the authorities confiscated a flag of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco carried by a group of fans, since the flag contains a rainbow.
The controversy even spread to the national teams themselves when FIFA banned several team captains from wearing rainbow armbands emblazoned with “One Love” last week, in a protest against Qatar’s human rights violations. . The case has already led the Danish federation to threaten to leave the body that oversees soccer.
Rainbow bracelets: Denmark threatens to leave FIFA and guarantees not to support Infantino’s re-election
Source: Observadora
