CNN
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Ahead of England’s World Cup clash with the United States on Friday, world soccer’s governing body FIFA said that Crusader costumes worn by England fans are “offensive.”
Some England fans attend sports events dressed as the English patron Saint George, equipped with helmets, crosses and plastic swords.
FIFA told CNN: “Crusader costumes in the Arab or Middle East context can be offensive to Muslims. That is why anti-discrimination colleagues asked fans to wear things inside out or change dress.”
Christian armies fought Muslims for more than 200 years to get back control of Jerusalem and its surrounding areas that were under Islamic rule.
FIFA says that “it strives to create a discrimination-free environment, to promote diversity across the organization and in all of its activities and events.”
During the tournament in Qatar, soccer fan attire has been in the spotlight – particularly any clothing or paraphernalia that has rainbow colors.
Hear from US journalist who was detained for wearing a rainbow shirt in Qatar
The rainbow flag is a symbol for LGBTQ rights, and in Qatar homosexuality is illegal.
At the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium on Monday, ahead of the United States Men’s National Team’s (USMNT) match with Wales, American soccer journalist Grant Wahl and former Wales captain Laura McAllister both said they were told to remove rainbow-colored items of clothing by security staff.
Wahl said he was detained and briefly refused entry to the match because of the “rainbow soccer ball t-shirt” he was wearing, posting on Twitter that security staff had told him: “You have to change your shirt. It’s not allowed.”
“One security guard told me that my shirt was ‘political’ and not allowed,” Wahl wrote on Substack.
Wahl told CNN on Tuesday that he had been given assurances beforehand he would be allowed to wear rainbow-decorated clothing, and that he “probably will” wear the shirt again as he has “no fear here about any of this.”
McAllister – who captained the Welsh women’s national soccer team in the 1990s – said she was stopped by security officials and had her rainbow-colored hat…
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