FIFA World Cup reporter asked to remove pro-LGBTQ OneLove armband Live on air; video viral

A Danish journalist was asked by a Qatari police officer to remove the OneLove band that he was wearing on his arm while recording a FIFA World Cup segment in Doha on Monday. In a video that is going viral, a Qatari policeman can be seen walking up to the journalist and asking him to remove the rainbow-themed band. The incident happened with Jon Pagh from TV 2 Sport channel in Denmark. Pagh was interrupted by the local police while he was filming outside the Danish team hotel. 

The video shows Pagh refusing to take the armband off as the police officer keeps pushing away the camera. "I respect that you are telling me that, but I can't take it off. Why is it not allowed? Is it because of the colours? It is just OneLove. It is just respecting everybody," Pagh can be heard telling the Qatari police officer in the video, which he shared on his official Twitter handle. 

'OneLove' controversy at World Cup 2022

The rainbow-themed merchandise has become a hot topic at the ongoing World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal. During the match between USA and Wales, many fans were stopped and asked to take their OneLove armbands and other merchandise off by security at the gate of the stadium, where the match was being played. Several teams including the likes of England, Switzerland, Wales, and Belgium were due to wear the OneLove armbands during their matches at the ongoing World Cup, but they had to drop the plan after being pressurized by FIFA. 

"FIFA has been very clear that it will impose sporting sanctions if our captains wear the armbands on the field of play. As national federations, we can’t put our players in a position where they could face sporting sanctions including bookings, so we have asked the captains not to attempt to wear the armbands in FIFA World Cup games," the abovementioned teams announced in a joint statement after the order from FIFA.

Teams have been sporting the OneLove armbands as a show of support to the LGBTQ+ community, who continue to face serious discrimination across the globe.  

Image: Twitter/JonPagh