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Grant Wahl complained about being stopped from taking photo of Qatar World Cup slogan days before his death

Grant Wahl complained about a security guard who stopped him from taking a photo of the Qatar World Cup slogan on the wall of the FIFA media center

DOHA, QATAR: US soccer journalist Grant Wahl, who died on December 10 while covering the FIFA World Cup quarter-final between Argentina and Netherlands at Lusail Stadium, complained about being stopped from taking a picture of the Qatar World Cup slogan on the wall of FIFA Broadcast & Media Accreditation Centre on November 16. He said, "I took a picture of it with my phone. Within seconds, a security guard walked over. 'Picture is not allowed, sir.'”

Questioning, "Is that how this World Cup is going to work?" Wahl took it to Twitter to share a link to his blog, titled 'USMNT World Cup Daily, Day 2', where he documented an exchange with the security guard. He wrote, "There was nothing posted saying that photos were not to be taken. I looked at him quizzically. 'But I was just taking a picture of the slogan on the wall.' And what he said next was absolutely wild. 'Kindly delete it, sir,' the guard said." 

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Following this, people expressed their concerns and one of them said, "FIFA is really going to regret putting the WC here," while other said, "This WC is going to be a disaster, let's hope fans don't have to suffer." One more said, "Grant you gotta exposes this archaic culture that literally criminalizes being gay?! Still can’t fathom how this place is allowed to host a World Cup??"

Detained for wearing rainbow shirt

In another incident, Wahl, who wore the rainbow shirt to the World Cup for his brother, Eric, was detained for wearing the same. Wahl, a CBS journalist, was going to the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan to cover the match between the United States and Wales on November 21, 2022, but he couldn't. Wahl tweeted, "Security guard refusing to let me into the stadium for USA-Wales." He reported the guard telling him, "You have to change your shirt. It's not allowed."

He then explained it in detail via his blog, "When I arrived at the stadium media entrance to cover the United States-Wales World Cup game today wearing a rainbow soccer ball t-shirt supporting the LGBTQ community, the security guards refused to let me in, detained me for 25 minutes and angrily demanded that I remove my t-shirt." And added, "Nearly half an hour passed. One security guard told me that my shirt was “political” and not allowed." He stated, "Same-sex relationships are illegal in Qatar. But FIFA has been clear in saying that the rainbow flag would be welcomed at the World Cup. The Qatari regime, however, has said very little on the topic, raising concerns that things would be different on the ground."

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