The United States’ men’s national team have made a huge statement at the World Cup in Qatar by redesigning their crest to incorporate the rainbow flag, in a bid to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.
The tournament, which starts on Sunday and sees the US play their opener against Wales on Monday, has been hugely controversial in its build-up, given Qatar’s human rights record and attitude to homosexuality.
As recently as this month, a Qatar World Cup ambassador told a German TV broadcaster that homosexuality was ‘damage to the mind’, and it remains illegal to be gay in the conservative Muslim country.
The USMNT appear to have made an immediate stand on their arrival in Doha, though, by changing the usual red stripes on their crest to a rainbow around their team base. Pictures from the Al Gharrafa SC Stadium in Ar-Rayyan, where the US team trained on Monday, showed a huge US crest on the wall, alongside the slogan ‘One Nation’.
It is understood the crest on the team’s kits on the field won’t be changed, but the new colors will be shown off at their practice facilities.
Over the past few weeks and months, many players have raised concerns over the rights of fans travelling to the event, especially LGBT+ individuals and women, whom rights groups say Qatari laws discriminate against.
Credit: dailymail.co.uk
