Love..& hat

Ex-Wales footballer told to remove rainbow clothing or leave ground

- JEREMY ARMSTRONG and ANDY LINES in Doha, Qatar and JOHN STEVENS

WITH anger growing at authorities in Qatar refusing to let fans wear official rainbow hats at World Cup games, the mess has been slammed as "shameful".

It has also emerged a Danish TV presenter in the Middle East nation was rapped by police live on air for wearing a OneLove armband.

Meanwhile, it is claimed England were blackmailed into not wearing the armband, which contains rainbow colours and is meant to send a message to Qatar over its stance on gay rights.

And FIFA has banned the word "love" from the Belgium team's kit.

Welsh FA chiefs have vowed to confront FIFA over Qatar's refusal to let fans wear the rainbow merchandise at Monday night's opening game.

Former Wales captain Laura McAllister was among those who fell foul of the ruling before the match.

Laura, now a professor at Cardiff University, was told her hat was a "banned symbol" by stadium security before hiding it in her handbag.