Fact Check: No alcohol, homosexuality? Conservative guidelines for FIFA World Cup NOT issued by Qatar govt
India Today
A list of rules has been shared online regarding the expected conduct of tourists visiting Qatar for the FIFA World Cup. AFWA found that this list was not shared by the government. Rather, it was issued by a local conservative group.
With the FIFA World Cup 2022 right around the corner, a list of rules supposedly issued by the host country, Qatar has been shared widely on social media. These supposedly official rules for football fans visiting Qatar to watch the Word Cup have been largely criticised online for being conservative and even bigoted.
The poster listing the rules said in English and Arabic, “Qatar welcomes you,” followed by “Reflect your respect to the religion and culture of Qatari people by avoiding these behaviours.” These so-called “behaviours” included “drinking alcohol”, “homosexuality”, “immodesty”, “not respecting places of worship”, “loud music and sounds”, “profanity”, “dating”, and “taking people's pictures without their permission”.
We noticed the hashtag “#Reflect_Your_Respect” at the bottom left corner of the poster. When we searched for this hashtag on Twitter, it led us to the account “Show Your Respect (@RYRQatar)”. Its profile picture was the same logo seen on the poster. The account’s bio read, “We contribute to the consolidation of Islamic values and principles that support the Qatari identity”. This account share the viral poster on October 1.
#Reflect_Your_Respect pic.twitter.com/3bFwda2fgH
As per media reports, “Reflect Your Respect” is a grass-roots campaign started by a group of Qatari women in 2014. The campaign aims to promote “modest dresses” among expatriate residents and visitors, among other things. The campaign group also has an Instagram profile.
To get to the bottom of it, we checked official guidelines issued by the Qatari government for visiting football fans. While some of these rules were similar to the ones mentioned in the viral poster, they made no mention of “homosexuality”.
These guidelines, available on the official website of Qatar’s FIFA World Cup 2022, mentioned restrictions on clothing. While football fans can wear clothes of their choice, they are expected to cover their shoulders and knees when visiting public places like museums and government buildings. Fans are also not permitted to remove their shirts inside the stadium.
