FIFA Gives a Statement After an England Fan Gets Strip Searched by World Cup Security

An England supporter was denied entry to the World Cup stadium, stripped, and detained for wearing rainbow colors. Now FIFA is issuing a statement to try and reassure fans of their safety in Qatar.

According to a FIFA spokesperson, "FIFA is aware of

some incidents where permitted items were not allowed to be displayed at stadiums. FIFA has received assurances by authorities that venue commanders have been contacted in relation to the agreed rules and regulations for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022."

The incident occurred on Monday before the Netherlands VS Qatar match, and the victim was identified as Anthony Johnson. At the time, he was trying to enter the Al Bayt Stadium wearing two pieces of England merchandise from the “black pride splatter” range, which features rainbow colours, only to be stopped by security.

When questioned about the incident, Johnson stated, “They said I had some metal on me and ushered me into a private area where they asked me to first take off my shorts, then my shoes, then take my pants down then my underwear then strip fully naked.”

It was revealed that the search took ten minutes and the supporter got detained for even longer while officials returned his cap. He was only allowed into the stadium once a policeman intervened.

This is not the first time a World Cup fan had difficulty entering a World Cup stadium because they were wearing rainbow colours. Even when FIFA announced rainbow colors being allowed, there were reports facing issues for wearing something with rainbow colors.