US journalist detained in Qatar

A US journalist was briefly detained on Monday as he tried to enter a World Cup stadium in Qatar wearing a rainbow shirt in support of the LGBTQ community in a country.

Grant Wahl, a former Sports Illustrated journalist who now has his own website, said this.

World Cup security denied him entry to the United States' opener against Wales at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan and asked him to take his shirt off, he said.

He said his phone was taken away when he tweeted about the incident.

“I'm OK, but that was an unnecessary ordeal”, Wahl wrote on Twitter.

He said a security commander later approached him, apologized and allowed him into the venue.

Same-sex relations are illegal in Qatar.