Brian Davis, a football fan and US citizen, was escorted out of Al Thumama Stadium by Qatari police for wearing a rainbow armband in support of LGBTQ+ rights. The incident took place during USMNT vs Iran match on Tuesday.

A video of Davis was shared on Twitter by journalist Rasmus Tantholdt of Denmark-based TV2. Watch the video here.

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Davis later managed to negotiate the matter with the authorities and later posted a picture of him from the stands wearing the rainbow armband. A photo of Davis was also posted by Reuters.

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It is likely that he got the clearance with the help of the reporters who were filming the incident at the location. 

Who is Brain Davis?

Brian Davis has identified as a USA citizen to Tantholdt and said that Qatari police were violent to him.

Davis hails from Honolulu, Hawaii, and describes himself as a “world traveling American Outlaw” on his Twitter bio. He is married and also has children.

He is a regular follower of USMNT, BBN, Louisville City, USWNT, and Racing Louisville sports teams. It is evident from his Twitter feed that he is an ardent follower of USMNT and no wonder he travelled to Qatar all the way from the US for the match.

They twisted my arm earlier and they were very aggressive,” Davis told Thantholdt. Pointing to the rainbow armband, Davis said: “I walked through the security with this on, security said it was fine and I was sitting in the stadium.”

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 Then, pointing at the Qatari police, he said: “then these gentlemen came up and fairly aggressively twisted my arm.”