World Cup fans in Qatar have been ordered to remove the rainbow items. (ITV News) FIFA and Qatar are reportedly in talks after it was revealed that football fans will be banned from wearing rainbow-colored clothing inside stadiums. There was widespread outrage after ITV News released a video showing former Wales captain Laura McAllister being stopped by "annoying" Qatari security guards for wearing a rainbow cap while trying to enter the stadium. American journalist Grant Wall also claimed in a post on Twitter that he was asked to change into his rainbow jersey before heading into the US-Wales game on Monday (21 November), adding that he was told by Qatari officials "Held for 25 minutes" because he refused to take it off. As the criticism mounts, The Guardian reports that FIFA and Qatar held talks on Tuesday (22 November) about the incident, with FIFA reportedly reminding Qatar of their previous guarantee that rainbow flags could be brought into the stadium.
FIFA is under increasing pressure over its decision to host the World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is a crime. Ahead of the tournament, soccer bosses claim queer fans are safe and welcome. Wales captain McAllister said he had alerted Qatar Stadium staff, telling ITV: "I pointed out that FIFA made a lot of comments in support of LGBT rights at this tournament and I told them that Coming from a country where we are very passionate about equality for all people, I'm not going to take my hat off." They insisted we weren't actually allowed into the stadium unless I took my hat off. The Football Association of Wales (FAW) said in a statement it was "deeply disappointed" to hear that fans "have been asked to remove and discard their Rainbow Wall bucket hats prior to attending the Ahmad Bin Enter Ali Stadium". He added: "This bucket hat was developed in collaboration with FAW.
The incident comes after several parties, including England and Wales, backtracked on their promise to wear the pro-LGBTQ OneLove armband at the World Cup after the captain threatened by FIFA was able to receive an instant yellow card. A joint statement by the football associations of England, Wales, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland confirmed on Monday (21 November) that the team will not be wearing the jersey in Qatar. "FIFA has made it clear that if our captain wears the armband on the pitch they will impose a sporting sanction," the statement said. "As a national federation, we cannot put our players in a situation where they face sporting sanctions, including a yellow card, so we have asked captains not to try to wear armbands at FIFA World Cup matches." "PinkNews has reached out to FIFA for comment.