It is false that Qatar is going to impose prison sentences of between “seven and eleven years” on anyone who shows the LGBTI rainbow flag during the 2022 World Cup to be held in that Arab country next winter, as misleading messages on social networks denounce. and media.
Internet users have spread messages on social networks where a “spokesperson for the Qatar World Cup”, which will be held between November 21 and December 18, announces that “whoever wears the LGTBI flag in the soccer world cup will be arrested for seven or 11 years”.
“We are in an Islamic country, our religion, beliefs and culture must be respected,” this spokesman allegedly adds in publications where the quote is accompanied by a photograph of Hassan Al Thawadi, secretary general of the Supreme Committee for the Legacy of the Qatar Football World Cup 2022.
Likewise, several media and portals that echoed the statements broadcast on networks pointed to the spokesman for the Qatar World Cup, Naser Al Jater, as the author of that statement.
The controversy has caused a cascade of criticism and reproaches on social networks and even among well-known political figures in Spain.
Thus, the spokesman for Más País, Iñigo Errejón, asked that the Spanish team wear the colors of the rainbow during the World Cup in protest at the alleged Qatari law against those flags. And the former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, asked by journalists, considered Al Jater’s alleged statements “unacceptable”, although he specified that he had not read them.
Facts
In reality, Qatar is not going to punish people who display the LGBTI flag during the celebration of the soccer World Cup with prison sentences, as the Qatari embassy in Spain confirmed to EFE.
In addition, there is no record that any Qatari authority has announced this punishment and the social media posts do not provide any kind of evidence.
Qatar will not act against anyone who carries a rainbow flag
Sources from the Qatari embassy in Spain assured that these statements were not made by “any spokesperson or any person” related to the organization of the World Cup. In fact, these same sources explained that “it is not illegal to display a rainbow flag” in the country.
Likewise, consulted by EFE on this issue, sources from FIFA – the federation in charge of organizing the championship together with local authorities – indicated that they are not aware that any Qatari personality has threatened prison sentences for wearing the LGTBI flag.
Precisely, FIFA has already declared that these banners would be allowed in the stadiums of Qatar during the celebration of the World Cup.
And, in the same way, the UEFA Working Group, on its third visit to Qatar since May 2021, received last Wednesday from institutions and personalities of the Arab country the guarantee that fans who carry rainbow flags “will be well received » during the World Cup.
Al Jater: “A homosexual couple can go to the World Cup”
The image of Hassan Al Thawadi attached to the messages on social networks along with the controversial statements was taken last March during the 72nd FIFA Congress at the Exhibition and Convention Center in Doha, the Qatari capital.
Neither in that event nor in other public interventions, Al Thawadi pointed out that showing the rainbow flag during the world cup would be punishable by jail, as a search with keywords on the Internet shows.
In any case, Naser Al Jater, to whom the controversial statements are also falsely attributed, pointed out in December 2021 in an interview with CNN that a homosexual couple can go to the World Cup “as fans of a soccer tournament” and that “they can do what any other human being would do.
Of course, he clarified that “the manifestations of public affection are frowned upon, regardless of sexual orientation”, since Qatar “is a conservative country”.
In any case, although such statements about alleged prison sentences were never made by any spokesperson for the World Cup, the truth is that Abdulaziz Abdullah Al Ansarialto, a Qatari official in charge of the tournament’s security, advocated in an interview with the AP agency for ban rainbow flags to protect fans from possible aggression.
“If he (a fan) waves a rainbow flag and I take it from him, it’s not because I really want him, but rather to protect him. Because I don’t, but someone else close could attack him, ”he indicated.
Qatar punishes sex between men with prison
For all these reasons, it is false that any Qatari spokesman made these statements, regardless of the harsh policy that Qatar maintains against the rights of LGTBI people.
Qatar does not recognize same-sex marriage and even its criminal code punishes sexual relations between men with one to three years in prison.
The country’s choice to host the next World Cup sparked strong criticism from the outset for the situation in which women and LGTBI people live there. Josh Cavallo, the first and only elite footballer to come out publicly, said he would be afraid to travel to Qatar to play. (D)
Source: Eluniverso
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