21 November 2022 19:03 UTC.

>US soccer journalist Grant Wahl says he was detained by security staff after he wore a rainbow shirt to USA’s World Cup opener against Wales.

>Wahl, who works for CBS Sports and writes a popular Substack column, wore the shirt as a show of solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community to the game at Qatar’s Ahmad bin Ali Stadium. Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar.

>However, he said a security guard told him the shirt was not allowed. Wahl said his phone was “forcibly ripped” from his hands by a guard as he tweeted about the incident.

>He said he was then detained for 25 minutes and told to remove his shirt, which a member of security staff said was “political”. He was also asked if he was from the UK.

>Wahl says he told a New York Times journalist who was passing by what had happened and he was detained too before being let go shortly afterwards.

>Wahl said he was subsequently allowed to wear the shirt in the stadium.

The Guardian