Two England fans claimed they were stripped and humiliated for dressing up as Crusaders at their World Cup match.
The couple, who live in Qatar, said they paid £3,000 for custom costumes from India inspired by the Monty Python comedy film. They were asked 'Are you here to kill Muslims?'
When they entered the stadium for the match against Iran.
They were refused entry for wearing the dress, which included a head-to-toe chain and plastic accessories, and missed the first half of the game.
Giving up their costumes, they tried again to enter the stadium to watch the second half but claim they were ushered into a side room and made to undress.
Qatari authorities have started banning England fans from wearing crusader costumes in stadiums.
The attire, complete with swords and crosses, are offensive due to crusader history of rape, slaughter and occupation of Arab lands. #Qatar #Eng #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/BoL6dnZEjz
— Robert Carter (@Bob_cart124) November 23, 2022
One of the men told The Sun: "We're both huge fans of Monty Python and the Holy Grail and our costumes were handmade in India - they're brilliant and cost £3,000 each. We thought it would be funny to dress up for the game in keeping with tradition where we've been to almost every previous World Cup but the team at the checkpoints The security first prevented us from entering because of our helmets, then they said the shields and rubber swords were a problem, and then the tunics were offensive. In the end we went back and forth five or six times to different checkpoints - all the time responding to their requests."
The English fan added: "It went on for two and a half hours and led to us missing the first half so we decided to give up all the equipment as we had paid over £180 for our tickets. But when we tried to go in we were ushered into a small side room by three staff and told to undress. There was no There's no reason for that, it was just ritual humiliation. Absolutely shocking attitude."
Earlier this week, England fans were warned not to attend matches in Crusader outfits for fear it could upset Muslims.
The best known Crusades took place between 1095 and 1291 when Christian armies fought bloody battles to capture Jerusalem from Islamic rule.
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