England fans banned from wearing crusader outfits at world cup because of historical context
Football fans have been turned away from entering World Cup stadiums for dressing like crusaders.
Footage of security checks outside one of Qatar's eight stadiums appeared to show England fans dressed in crusader costumes being prevented from entering by security - resulting in them having to turn around and leave.
For those who took history lessons in school as a perfect time for a nap, the crusades were a series of holy wars fought in the Middle East for control of the holy land.
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They were a series of bloody and brutal conflicts between the Christian crusaders and the Muslim states which had control of the region, with both religions considering the area their holy land.
Throughout the conflicts many thousands of people were killed as many battles were fought and local populations massacred, which goes a long way to explaining why turning up to Qatar in a crusader costume is an incredibly insensitive thing to do.
Frankly, if you are going to turn up to a World Cup game dressed like this then you should at least be aware of the historical context and understand that you might get turned away.
This isn't the same deal as being denied entry to a stadium for wearing a rainbow shirt, as US reporter Grant Wahl was when he tried to enter the Ahmed bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan to watch his country draw 1-1 with Wales.
Nor is it like the Brazilian journalist who was told to get rid of his rainbow flag, which was actually the flag of his home state Pernambuco.
Wearing rainbow imagery is a show of support for the LGBTQ+ community who suffer at the hands of the Qatari regime and a challenge to those who said everyone would be welcome in the country during the World Cup to prove they were telling the truth.
Donning the costumes of historical warriors who carved a bloody path through the Middle East to seize territory for their own in a series of incredibly violent religious wars is not the same thing.
People who spotted the England fans dressed in crusader costumes said it was 'such an embarrassing and offensive way to behave', while someone else wondered if the fans would dress as 'smallpox' for World Cup games in Mexico.
Another said it was 'imbecilic' to think that dressing up as a crusader would be fine in Qatar, while someone else said the people doing it must be 'thick'.
Qatar's World Cup organisers have since explained to LADbible that weapons and body protection items were not permitted for fans to bring into stadiums, while the FIFA code of conduct explained that event organisers had the 'absolute discretion' on whether fans were allowed in or not.
The code of conduct also said anything of a 'political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature' would also be grounds to get banned.
Joe Harker