Ominous sign for next World Cup

A senior official has revealed that fans attending the next football World Cup might have a simple item taken off them, with ominous ramifications.

Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari said that confiscating rainbow flags would be the only way to protect LGBTQ people at the World Cup in Qatar. Picture: Getty/Darko Bandic/AP

Football fans attending the World Cup in Qatar could have their rainbow flags taken by security to “protect” their safety, a senior official overseeing security for the tournament has revealed.

Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari – who is the Director of the Department of International Cooperation and chairman of the National Counter-Terrorism Committee at the Ministry of Interior – told The Associated Press that while LGBTQ people would be welcomed and accepted in Qatar (where same-sex relationships are currently criminalised) during the FIFA World Cup in November and December, confiscating rainbow flags was a necessary security measure to protect them from being ambushed for being loud and proud about their sexuality.

Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari said that confiscating rainbow flags would be the only way to protect LGBTQ people at the World Cup in Qatar. Picture: Getty/Darko Bandic/AP

“If he (a fan) raised the rainbow flag and I took it from him, it’s not because I really want to, really, take it, to really insult him, but to protect him,” the senior leader told The Associated Press. “Because if it’s not me, somebody else around him might attack (him) … I cannot guarantee the behaviour of the whole people.”

Previously, FIFA and World Cup organisers said that rainbow flags would be permitted throughout the tournament, but Major General Al Ansari said that there will be no public display of LGBTQ freedoms.

The Qatari official has said that there would be no public promotion of LGBTQ freedoms. Picture: Getty

“[If] you want to demonstrate your view about the (LGBTQ) situation, demonstrate it in a society where it will be accepted,” Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari said. “We realise that this man got the ticket, comes here to watch the game, not to demonstrate, a political (act) or something which is in his mind.

“Watch the game. That’s good. But don’t really come in and insult the whole society because of this.”

The Qatari official’s remarks come after FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in the same week that “everyone will see that everyone is welcome here in Qatar, even if we speak about LGBTQ.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino (second from the left) said that everyone would be welcome at the World Cup in Qatar. Picture: Gabriel Bouys/AFP

But Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari said that he is not telling fans of the LGBTQ community to stay away from the tournament or face being placed behind bars.

“Reserve the room together, sleep together – this is something that’s not in our concern,” he said. “We are here to manage the tournament. Let’s not go beyond, the individual personal things which might be happening between these people … this is actually the concept.

“Here we cannot change the laws. You cannot change the religion for 28 days of [the] World Cup.”

Originally published as Ominous sign for next World Cup