FIFA 2022 World Cup: Qatar's declaration on LGBT manifestations

While FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football) had announced that the rainbow flag could be flown in stadiums, Qatar informs that any such flag that is waved will be immediately confiscated.

"If a fan waves a rainbow flag in a stadium and we take it away, it will not be because I want to insult him but to protect him. If we don't do it, another spectator might attack him," Qatari General Abdullah Al Ansari, head of tournament security and chairman of the National Committee for Combating Terrorism, said as he commented on the Qatari authorities' decision regarding LGBT people.

"If you want to express your views about the LGBT cause, do it in a society where it will be accepted. If the emirate tolerates gay fans to travel to support their team, it forbids them to defend the colors of the LGBT community on and off the stadiums." the general added.

The 2022 World Cup will begin in Qatar on November 21, but behind the scenes, authorities are actively working to define the contours of what is accepted in the country and what is not.