Qatar may allow LGBTQ flags, protests during World Cup: report
Qatar may allow LGBT flags, protests during World Cup: report
Qatar may allow flags on the national soccer team to show support for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights and support gay marriage, according to a report posted Friday on news site Yahoo Finance.
The country is currently host to the 2022 World Cup, which will be the first time a soccer competition will be held in the country.
Yahoo Finance reported that a plan by Qatar’s sports minister was approved by the country’s cabinet.
The plan, which is expected to be approved by the full Cabinet on Monday, will see the government allow the Qatar flag to be flown on the national team, while also putting forward a proposal to allow gay pride flags.
It is believed that the same will be approved during a meeting on Monday between Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani and Prime Minister of Argentina Mauricio Macri.
The report added that Qatar will also allow protests to be held during the World Cup, with no restriction against what should be allowed during the tournament, apart from the possibility of using “gay” as a swear word.
Yahoo Finance noted that Qatar is the first country where the flag of the country is flown on a team that plays the World Cup. The first time was in 2006 in South Africa.
The news comes a day after the country’s national football association said it had accepted the suggestion by Fifa’s general secretary Gianni Infantino that the national team could adopt gay pride and support marriage equality.
Infantino’s suggestion was made shortly after the World Cup ended in Russia.
The U.S. State Department said Saturday that Russian law banning non-traditional relationships could be used to restrict LGBT rights in Russia and said Russian laws could target LGBT people’s access to health care, education and other key areas of life.
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