- The Washington Times - Wednesday, November 2, 2022

An organizer for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar said that LGBTQ flags and public protests may be allowed during the tournament, but officials from the host country and FIFA have yet to weigh in, according to a report.

A presentation by the organizational body FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 laid out procedures that instruct police to intervene less and practice “leniency towards behaviors that do not threaten physical integrity or property,” according to a copy of the presentation obtained by Bloomberg News.

That includes police officers not approaching people with the rainbow LGBTQ flag, and letting fans protest as long as they don’t create a “security issue,” per Bloomberg.

Bloomberg reported that the guidelines align with the Safety and Security Operations Committee, staffed by FIFA and Qatari officials.  

A spokesman for Qatar’s organizing committee for the World Cup told Bloomberg it was aware of the presentation, but it didn’t contribute or approve its contents. Representatives for the Qatar government and FIFA declined to comment on the presentation.  

Guidelines for the event may change ahead of the tournament’s Nov. 20 start.

A report over the summer outlined Qatar’s intent to allow all walks of life to the tournament as long as visitors abided by the conservative Islamic nation’s cultural norms.

That meant no drinking in public, no one-night stands between fans, no romantic displays of affection of any kind and no rainbow flags were to be tolerated.

U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly came under fire last week for suggesting that LGBTQ fans show “a little bit of flex and compromise” when it comes to expressing themselves in Qatar, according to the BBC.

“These are Muslim countries, they have very different cultural starting point for us,” Mr. Cleverly told Sky News in a separate interview. “I think it’s important when you’re a visitor to a country that you respect the culture of your host nation.”

Homosexuality can be punishable by death in Qatar, according to the Human Dignity Trust, an international human rights organization focusing on LGBTQ issues. 

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.

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