Qatar 2022: Rainbow flags could be taken away to protect fans

Bengaluru/Doha, April 2: Even after the official draw for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup has been done, controversies refuse to abate with the latest surrounding the row over rainbow flags.

A top official of Qatar 2022 organising committe said the rainbow flags could be taken away from fans to protect them from being attacked for promoting gay rights.

"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," Qatar 2022 official Major General Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansari told AP news agency.

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In a break from the normal tradition of hosting the FIFA World Cup in the June-July window, Qatar 2022 will be held in winter with the tournament starting on November 21 and ending on December 18 to coincide with the Qatar National Day.

The official draw ceremony was held on Friday (April 1) at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Al Ansari, who is a senior official overseeing security for the tournament insisted that LGBTQ couples would be welcomed and accepted in Qatar for the FIFA showpiece despite same-sex relations remaining criminalized in the conservative Gulf nation.

But Al Ansari is against the overt promotion of LGBTQ freedoms as symbolised by the rainbow flag that FIFA and World Cup organizers had previously said would be welcome across Qatar's eight stadiums.

"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," added Al Ansari, who is the Director of the Department of International Co-operation and Chairman of the National Counter-terrorism Committee at the Ministry of Interior in Qatar.

When it was pointed out that visiting fans and teams could take offense to the comments, Al Ansari said he did not view himself as being discriminatory. "I am risking ... a minority view against a majority," he said. "We have to be close to the problem before it erupts and gets out of control. ... If somebody attacks you, then I have to get involved and it will be too late."

"You want to demonstrate your view about the (LGBTQ) situation, demonstrate it in a society where it'll be accepted," he said.

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"We realize 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." The potential confiscation from supporters was condemned as "deeply concerning" by fan and anti-discrimination campaigners.

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Al Ansari said he was not telling LBGTQ fans to stay away from Qatar or warning them of facing 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 ... this is actually the concept. "Here we cannot change the laws. You cannot change the religion for 28 days of World Cup."