Rainbow struggle playing out on sidelines of World Cup
DOHA, QATAR (AP) >> Aside from the competition for the World Cup title, one of the most hotly contested issues in the tournament in Qatar is over rainbow colors.
In the first week of the tournament, seven European teams lost the battle to wear multi-colored “One Love” armbands during World Cup matches and some fans complained they weren’t allowed to bring items with rainbow colors, a symbol of LGBTQ rights, into the stadiums of the conservative Islamic emirate.
Qatar, where gay sex is illegal, faced intense international scrutiny and criticism in the run-up to the tournament over rights issues, including questions on whether LGBTQ visitors would feel safe and welcome. The Gulf nation has said all are welcome, including LGBTQ fans, and that it would ensure safety for everyone, regardless of background, but that visitors should respect the nation’s culture.
Piara Powar, executive director of Fare, the antidiscrimination group that is reporting incidents in and around stadiums to world soccer body FIFA, said he believes the Qatari hosts felt that the debate about LGBTQ rights has been given too much space and that they need to clamp down internally.
“We have talked to them about rainbow flags and the symbolism that it has across the world, not just in western Europe. There are Latin Americans who recognize that, there are Asians who recognize the Pride flag,” Powar said.
Just before the tournament started, FIFA stopped plans by seven European teams including England and Germany to have their captains play with “One Love” anti-discrimination armbands, saying they would receive yellow cards if they did. The decision sparked outrage by some in the countries involved.
One of the teams, Belgium, tweeted a team photo Friday showing captain Eden Hazard wearing the “One Love” armband. The country’s foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, wore it as she watched Belgium’s World Cup opener against Canada on Wednesday.
Former Danish Prime Minister Helle ThorningSchmidt turned up at Denmark’s match against Tunisia wearing an outfit with rainbow-colored sleeves. In an Instagram post a day later, she appeared conflicted about the choice of clothing.
“I’ve been reflecting on whether showing up in rainbow colors is actually helping gay and queer folks in Qatar,” ThorningSchmidt wrote in the post. She wondered whether it could “make things worse by hardening the Qatar government against them? I don’t know the answer but doesn’t it show us that nothing is binary, only good or only bad?”
Some fans have said that they were asked to remove and discard their rainbow hats at a World Cup stadium earlier this week despite assurances by FIFA before the tournament that such items would be allowed in stadiums.
Justin Martin, a U.S. citizen living in Qatar, said he was holding a small rainbow flag on the metro on his way to the U.S. opener against Wales when two people wearing shirts that identified them as volunteers asked him to put the flag away. He didn’t want to.