Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Qatar, Football World Cup
James Aldred
The CEO of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has revealed what will happen to people who hold hands during the tournament.
Speaking to Sky's Rob Harris, Nasser Al Khater insisted that public displays of affection will be tolerated in the Gulf State.
"Look, we've always said that everybody is welcome here,' he said.
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"All we ask is for people to be respectful of the culture.
"Everybody is welcome here and everybody will feel safe when they come to Qatar. Everybody."
However, despite Al Khater's reassurances, many supporters are still cautious about what they can and can't do in the Middle East.
Yesterday, it was announced that fans can't buy alcohol at eight of the tournament's venues.
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There also remains questions about how members of the LGBT+ community will be treated on arrival, with Josh Carvalho, the only current male professional to come out as gay, claiming he would be 'concerned' for his safety if he was to make the trip.
"I know personally, if I go there, I will be protected because I'm in the public eye," Cavallo told CNN's Amanda Davies last month.
"But it's not me that I'm worried about. It's those ones that are messaging me. It's those people that aren't in the public eye that are scared to even be themselves and walk the streets."
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Al Khater did respond to the Adelaide United star's comments at the time, arguing that 'nobody feels threatened' on the streets of Qatar.
He was backed up in a recent press conference by the president of FIFA Gianni Infantino, who described the West's reports about Qatari values as hypocritical.
"I am European," he told the press. "For what we have been doing for 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before giving moral lessons.
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"This one-sided moral lesson is just hypocrisy...Qatar is ready, it will be the best World Cup ever."
The World Cup gets underway on Sunday, with hosts Qatar facing Ecuador.