England fan ‘strip searched’ for wearing rainbow t-shirt at Qatar World Cup match
Mr Johnson, however, said he was confronted by stadium security and was accused of not respecting Qatar’s culture, despite Fifa’s assurances that rainbow colours would be allowed.
He told the i: “I was asked to take my watch and belt off which I haven’t been at the other eight games I have been to. When I went through again, a big burly security guard screamed in my face ‘You don’t respect our culture’.
“They then wand-ed me down. The wand didn’t activate but 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.
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“Throughout, the guy was wand-ing my body and my clothes. He was almost apologetic by the end because it was obvious to us both he wouldn’t find anything. That all lasted about 10 minutes.”
Mr Johnson added that a security official had told to him regarding the rainbow colours, ‘We don’t care what Fifa say, we decide what comes in’ when he challenged them.
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After a further 10 minutes, Mr Johnson was allowed into the stadium with his t-shirt and hat.
Reporter Daniel Storey, who broke the story, said afterwards that Mr Johnson was “really angry” but otherwise “okay” following the incident.
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