Rainbow flags could be confiscated from fans at the World Cup in Qatar to protect them from being attacked for promoting gay rights.
Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari, a senior leader overseeing security for the tournament, maintained that LGBTQ couples would be welcomed in Qatar.
Male homosexuality is punishable by a prison sentence in the Gulf Nation and same-sex marriages are not recognised by the government, meaning some supporters are uneasy about travelling to Qatar when the finals kick off in November.
Al Ansari warned against the overt promotion of LGBTQ freedoms as symbolised by the rainbow flag that FIFA and organisers had previously said would be permitted, should supporters choose to bring them to matches.
He said: ‘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.
‘Because if it’s not me, somebody else around him might attack (him) … I cannot guarantee the behavior of the whole people. And I will tell him: ‘Please, no need to really raise that flag at this point.”
Al Ansari added: ‘You want to demonstrate your view about the (LGBTQ) situation, demonstrate it in a society where it will be accepted.
‘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.’
Al Ansari claimed that his advice was not designed to discourage LBGTQ fans to stay away from Qatar, nor was he warning them they could face prosecution.
‘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.
‘Here we cannot change the laws. You cannot change the religion for 28 days of World Cup.’
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