A New York reporter, Grant Wahl, became a trending topic on Twitter when he claimed to have been “detained” at the World Cup in Qatar for wearing a rainbow-colored shirt, which has sparked a mixed response from social media users

A New York reporter became a trending topic on Twitter on Monday when he claimed to have been “detained” at the #WorldCup in Qatar for wearing a rainbow-colored shirt, which has sparked a mixed response from social media users. 

Grant Wahl took to Twitter last night to upload a photo of himself wearing the shirt, along with the tweet, “Just now: Security guard refusing to let me into the stadium for USA-Wales. ‘You have to change your shirt. It’s not allowed.’”

Hosting the World Cup soccer games in Qatar was controversial in itself given that the country has strict laws when it comes to human rights, such as condemning homosexuality, and freedom of expression, while women need to seek permission from their male guardians (or husband) to work, travel abroad, study overseas, or even act as their child’s primary guardian if the couple were to divorce. Drinking alcohol to the point of being drunk is also deemed illegal and can result in a hefty fine or being jailed.

According to Grant, he was told by security that if he took the shirt off, he could enter the stadium, but he vehemently refused to comply and decided to take the matter to Twitter instead. While his tweet generated 150k likes in a matter of hours, there were countless responses from people who felt the reporter should have respected the country’s law and practice.