US Journalist Slams Qatar After Getting Detained Over Rainbow Shirt At FIFA World Cup: 'Keeps Moving Goalposts'

American soccer journalist Grant Wahl said he was detained by security staff after he wore a rainbow shirt to the U.S. World Cup opener against Wales in Qatar. 

What Happened: Wahl wore the rainbow shirt to Qatar's Ahmad bin Ali Stadium where the match was taking place, to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community after a Qatari ambassador, earlier this month, said homosexuality was "damage in the mind."

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, and ambassador Khalid Salman said, "they have to accept our rules here."

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Wahl said a security guard told him to remove his shirt, which a security staff member said was "political," after detaining him for 25 minutes. He added that the security team "forcibly ripped" his phone from his hands as he tweeted about the incident and was then asked if he was from the U.K.

Later, a security commander approached Wahl and said, "they were letting me through and apologized. We shook hands. One of the security guards told me they were just trying to protect me from fans inside who could harm me for wearing the shirt … A FIFA rep later apologized to me as well."

"But the entire episode left me wondering: What's it like for ordinary Qataris who might wear a rainbow shirt when the world isn't watching here? What's that like?" he added.

FIFA said everyone was welcome in Qatar during the World Cup. FIFA’s Deputy General Secretary Alasdair Bell on Oct. 13 acknowledged that there has been clear progress in improving human and labor rights in the country and that FIFA has been very active in this process.

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