Assurance to LGBTI+ fans from the Football Federation:

You can kiss

The federation claimed that LGBTI+ fans would not be arrested for kissing at the Qatar World Cup.

The Football Association (FA) assured LGBTI+ fans that they would not be arrested for kissing or holding hands in public at the World Cup in Qatar.

Controversy has continued since it was announced that the tournament will be held in the Gulf country where homosexuality is illegal and the LGBTI+ community is subject to discriminatory laws.

Amnesty International also published a 48-page report, concluding that some harmful practices still persist in Qatar, such as cutting wages for migrant workers and demanding money to change jobs.

However, FA CEO Mark Bullingham stated that the police in the country were instructed to be tolerant during the tournament.

Asked whether the governing body had considered the problems LGBTI+ fans might face in Qatar if they kissed or held hands in public, Bullingham said: “We have been asking these questions to the Qatari authorities for the past six months. They gave us absolutely correct answers for everything we talked about, even to the point of 'are rainbow flags allowed'."

“Yes, absolutely (allowed) as long as someone doesn't go and hang them [flags] outside of a mosque – that was one of the examples we were given and disrespectful like that." - he added.