Two Brazillian football fans had their house state’s flag seized by Qatari authorities after they puzzled it for LGBTQ+ colours.
The stunning event happened beyond the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday as fans were leaving the ground after Saudi Arabia’s shock win over Argentina.
Video video footage reveals the minute the ladies were approached by Brazilian reporter Victor Pereira who requested an image with the flag.
The brilliantly coloured flag was that of the north eastern state Pernambuco, which the reporter identified outside the ground.
Pereira asked another individual to take the image and stopped briefly to take a look at the image when a male using a conventional white gown approached the group and hassled them over the flag.
The specific took the flag, tossed it to the ground, and after that stepped over it.
Homosexuality is prohibited in Qatar and punishable by jail.
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Pereira told Reuters: ‘I took my phone to record a video but he grabbed it from my hand and said he would only give it back if I deleted the video.’
‘Then an officer arrived and tried to intervene. He grabbed the phone from the other guy and ordered me to delete the video.
Pereira said he obeyed to make sure he would get his phone back as he uses it for work. His case made the news after he uploaded a new video on Twitter relaying what happened.
Volunteers working outside the stadium apologized to him.
He said: ‘They said that they had no right to have done that and that, if I wanted, I could report it.’
Pereira added that surveillance cameras in the vicinity captured the incident and that he was planning on filing a report.
The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Qatar’s World Cup organizers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Qatari government’s media office.
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Pernambuco’s governor Paulo Camara expressed his solidarity with Pereira on Twitter.
He said: ‘Our solidarity with Pernambuco journalist Victor Pereira. Victor is covering the Qatar Cup and had the Pernambuco flag he was carrying seized by the authorities of that country.’
The state’s flag was first adopted in 1817 when it obtained its independence from Portugal.
At the time, the flag was split with a blue pennant that stood for the sky and a white pennant that represented a country that believed in peace.
Three white stars were put a little over the rainbow and the sun right under that symbolized strength and energy.
The rainbow was comprised of 3 arches in red, yellow, and white, representing peace, relationship, and unity.
The existing flag was presented in 1917 and its arches were altered to red, yellow, and white, representing union throughout the state.
An only gold star replaced the 3 that were currently there and represented the state in the Brazilian federation as a whole.
The flag has actually constantly included a red cross, which represents the state’s faith in justice and understanding.
It follows a U.S. reporter stated he was quickly apprehended on Monday when he attempted to get in a World Cup arena in Qatar while using a rainbow t-shirt in assistance of the LGBTQ neighborhood, likewise declaring his phone was taken.
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