Tunisia fans raise massive 'Free Palestine' banner at Qatar World Cup

Tunisian fans waived a massive "Free Palestine" banner, in the FIFA World Cup match between Tunisia and Australia.

 Fans unveil a banner with the message 'Free Palestine', November 26, 2022. (photo credit: REUTERS/MARKO DJURICA)
Fans unveil a banner with the message 'Free Palestine', November 26, 2022.
(photo credit: REUTERS/MARKO DJURICA)

Tunisian fans unveiled a massive "Free Palestine" banner, in the FIFA World Cup match between Tunisia and Australia on Saturday afternoon.

Tunisian fans have been waiving Palestinian flags in previous matches in the international soccer tournament, including in their match against Denmark on November 22. 

FIFA has made it clear that it does not wish for politics to be involved in the World Cup, barring European national teams from using pride colors Capitan armbands with the captions "One Love".

Security not afraid to confiscate "controversial" items

During Iran's game versus Wales on Friday, several Iranian fans said Qatari security had prevented them from bringing symbols of support for the Iranian protesters for women's rights into the stadium.

US journalist Grant Wahl said he was briefly detained when trying to enter the USA national team's match against Wales on Monday while wearing a rainbow shirt in support of the LGBTQ community. The security staff at the stadium had made him remove his shirt in order to enter the stadium. Wahl refused to take off his shirt, and was eventually allowed in with his shirt.

Wales fans who wanted to enter their national team's match against the USA had their rainbow hats taken by the stadium's security staff, according to a BBC report.

Laura McAllister, a former national team player for Wales's women's team, and professor at Cardiff University has written on her Twitter account: "So, despite fine words from @FIFAWorldCup before event @Cymru rainbow Bucket hats confiscated at stadium, mine included. I had a conversation about this with stewards - we have video evidence. This #WorldCup2022 just gets better but we will continue to stand up for our values"