An England supporter says he was subjected to a lengthy strip-search and initially prevented from entering a World Cup stadium because he was wearing rainbow colours.
Anthony Johnson, who is a member of England’s official travel club, was trying to enter the Al Bayt Stadium in Qatar for the Netherlands’ match against the hosts on Monday. He was wearing a T-shirt that had England’s badge in rainbow colours on and a baseball cap which is a part of the Football Association’s “black pride splatter” merchandise range.
Johnson, who had attended eight matches at the tournament before Monday without issue, says he was denied entry and forced to remove all his clothes. He was told the situation was due to having metal on his body, but believes it was actually due to a different reason.
