American journalist was "detained" for wearing a rainbow shirt during the World Cup in 2022.

 Before the match between the United States and Wales, an American journalist was "detained" for wearing a rainbow shirt during the World Cup in 2022.

Authorities at World Cup sites in Qatar have recently ordered two American journalists to take off apparel with rainbow patterns.

A policeman informed Los Angeles Times reporter Kevin Baxter on Saturday that wearing a rainbow-colored mask was not permitted at the U.S. men's national team's training facility in Qatar.

Two days later, veteran soccer journalist Grant Wahl claimed that he was instructed by security to remove a shirt with a rainbow pattern around a soccer ball at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, where the USMNT would play Wales on Monday night. FIFA stated the incident was a "error" and that it had been "resolved" in a statement to Yahoo Sports.

In a subsequent tweet, Wahl claimed that he had been held for "almost half an hour." He said on his website that a security guard "forcefully ripped my phone from my hands" when he tweeted about the incident. After what he called a "ordeal," he was eventually permitted to enter with the shirt on.

LGBTQ rights have become one of several flashpoints of this World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is criminalized. FIFA and the Supreme Committee, the joint World Cup organizers, have promised LGBTQ fans and participants that they are welcome. FIFA president Gianni Infantino said Saturday that he’d “been speaking about this topic with the highest leadership of the country — several times, not just once. And they have confirmed that I can confirm that everybody is welcome.”

But before Monday's matches kicked off, seven European teams had scrapped plans to wear rainbow-colored anti-discrimination captains' armbands after FIFA threatened them with “sporting sanctions.” Then, ESPN reported that FIFA demanded Belgium remove the word "love" from the collar of their jerseys two days before they play Canada in Group F.