UPDATE NOV 25TH: FIFA have confirmed that fans are allowed to wear rainbow merchandise at the Qatar 2022 World Cup following backlash after some saw their hats and flags confiscated. Confirmed by the Football Association of Wales, the FAW stated that all venues have been instructed to follow the agreed new rules.
It’s the day after England’s first football game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and despite beating Iran 6-2, there’s plenty of fans left bitterly disappointed. That’s because after vowing to take a stand against host country Qatar’s persecution of the LGBTQ+ community, by donning the OneLove rainbow armband during the match, England's Football Association, along with six other European teams, u-turned on their promise over threats players would be yellow-carded for defying FIFA regulation uniform.
And while Alex Scott has proven herself braverthan the whole England team put together by wearing her One Love armband as she reported for the BBC pitch-side, she’s not the only one to have taken a bold move in wearing rainbow-emblazoned regalia. According to reports, fans choosing to don the pro-LGTBQ+ merch are having them confiscated by stadium security.
Women in particular are being targeted, with LGBTQ+ Welsh supporters group The Rainbow Wall writing on social media that they had their specially-made rainbow bucket hats taken by security when entering the stadium.
In a statement posted to the group’s Twitter, they said they had ‘come together to deliver a campaign with a positive message of LGBTIQ+ inclusion for Welsh football during this men’s world cup.’
‘We wanted to highlight the contribution LGBTIQ+ people make to football in Wales,' the statement read. 'We were also happy to support the FAW [Football Association of Wales]’s inclusive messaging in the lead-in to the tournament.
‘Yesterday, as we learned of the decision by the FAW not to wear the #OneLove armband, we felt that a huge opportunity had been missed for the FAW to send a message of solidarity and inclusion; not only for LGBTIQ+ people in Wales, but also for LGBTIQ+ in Qatar who face criminalisation, surveillance, violence and fear in their own country. Later in the day we were appalled to see Rainbow Wall bucket hats confiscated by security from female fans as they entered the stadium for the USA V Wales game.
‘Allyship sometimes means having uncomfortable conversations and standing up for what you believe in. We hope the FAW will be able to make an alternative and meaningful show of solidarity for LGBTIQ+ people over the coming weeks in Qatar.’
Elsewhere, a US journalist reporting on the tournament, Grant Wahl, was told to change a T-shirt with a rainbow on it as the offending item was ‘not allowed’. Taking to Twitter after the incident, he wrote, ‘I’m OK, but that was an unnecessary ordeal. Am in the media center, still wearing my shirt. Was detained for nearly half an hour.
'Go gays 🌈’.