The rainbow obviously has no place in Qatar, contrary to the promises made upstream by the Organizing Committee of the World Cup.
Journalist Victor Pereira, who covers the World Cup on behalf of several media in his country, was also a victim, but without having worn the LGBTQ emblem.
The Brazilian and his colleague Kelvin Maciel displayed the flag of their state, Pernambuco, which has precisely these colors when leaving the Lusail stadium where he came to cover the meeting between Argentina and Saudi Arabia.
In a series of three videos posted on his Twitter account on Tuesday, Victor Pereira claims that Qataris and police came to grab them after mistaking the emblems of this federated state in northeastern Brazil.
One man in particular took the flag from the hands of a volunteer who was taking a picture with it, according to the account given to TV Globo by the two men.
Fomos abordados por conta da bandeira de Pernambuco, que tem um arco-íris e acharam que era a bandeira LGBT.
Tomaram o meu celular e só me devolveram quando deletei o vídeo que tinha.
pic.twitter.com/7X2oal8bq1
— Victor Pereira (@ovictorpereira) November 22, 2022
Victor Pereira says he then wanted to film the scene, but his cell phone was in turn confiscated.
Witnesses present around the crowd filmed the scene, a sequence that he then shared on social networks.
We actually see the police holding the flag.
We also see Victor Pereira explaining himself to a man, dressed in traditional Qatari clothing, who is holding in his hand what appears to be the journalist's mobile phone, with his official accreditation.
Chegaram a pegar a bandeira de Pernambuco, jogaram no chão e pisaram.
Quando algumas pessoas intervieram e amenizaram a situação.
O vídeo em que eu registro o que fizeram com a bandeira flee OBRIGADO a delete!
pic.twitter.com/WUti5vyL9D
— Victor Pereira (@ovictorpereira) November 22, 2022
"They threw the flag on the ground and walked on it, that's when some people intervened to calm the situation," said Victor Pereira on Twitter.
I was then forced to delete the video where I was filming what they did.
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"A feeling of revolt"
“We even have a feeling of revolt.
Because at no time did they even allow us to explain that the flag we brought here is our state flag, which we are so proud of,” continues Kelvin Maciel.
If their flag was returned to them, the two journalists requested the support of their embassy in Qatar for fear of losing their accreditation.
On Sunday, American journalist Grant Wahl was blocked by security half an hour before being able to access the stadium where the United States faced Wales.
He wore a T-shirt with a rainbow in support of LGBTQ people.
Ahead of the same match, other videos show Welsh fans being questioned by staff at the stadium about hats in these colours.
The rights of LGTBQ people are among the recurring criticisms of Qatar.
Homosexuality is illegal in the Gulf emirate and even punishable by death.
