Flag in support of the fight for the LGBT + cause and “One love” armband are banned by the Qatari authorities and Fifa. Until the second jersey of the Belgian selection, for four small letters inscribed inside its collar.
In Qatar, the rain falls seven or eight days a year, which must always be a source of deep concern for Doha: what if the sky is adorned with a rainbow? Misfortune. The rainbow is Qatar’s number one public enemy these days. Around the stadiums, and now on the field and the outfits of the players, we scrutinize the emblem of LGBT + rights in the gas state, well helped by Fifa.
Latest, the grotesque decision on Monday not to allow Belgium to show off its second jersey, because the word … “love” appears inside its collar. The jersey, born of a partnership with the electronic music festival Tomorrowland, is white with touches of color on the collar and flocking. “It’s sad but FIFA leaves us no choice. The rest of the equipment remains unchanged,” retorted the boss of the Belgian federation, Peter Bossaert, in the The newspapaer.
This decision by the international football body, decidedly not embarrassed in this World Cup to assume its indignity, comes after the decision of the seven European countries not to wear the “one love” armband in support of the fight against homophobia. . Fifa had threatened: the captains of the recalcitrant selections would have been warned of a yellow card even before the start of their match.
While the French team is illustrated by avoidance and renunciations, on social networks, many examples of this witch hunt led by the Qatari authorities are emerging. The former captain of the Welsh selection, Laura McAllister, as well as an association of Welsh supporters, for example, said that they had to take off their rainbow hats to attend the meeting between the United States and Wales. Monday.
“I did not intend to take off my hat”
«[Les stadiers] said it was a forbidden symbol and that we weren’t allowed to wear it in the stadium, said Laura McAllister. I pointed out that Fifa made a lot of comments about supporting LGBT rights at this tournament. Coming from a country where we are very committed to ensuring equality for all, I did not intend to take off my hat. The ex-player was forced to “leaving the stadium” to lay down his hat “in a lost and found area”.
Before the match, American journalist Grant Wahl also tweeted that he was held back by security personnel for wearing a rainbow t-shirt, while Danish reporter Jon Pagh of TV2 Sport had to being forced to remove a one love armband. Which consultant and former player Alex Scott had the courage to wear live on the BBC during the game between England and Iran on Monday.