Reporting from Qatar days before the opening match of the FIFA World Cup, TV2 reporter Rasmus Tantholdt was speaking as part of a live broadcast when he was approached by security personnel who had appeared in a golf cart.
It quickly became apparent that he was not welcome to film and he was quickly threatened with having his camera broken and destroyed.
The video, which has gone viral on social media, showed Tantholdt switching to English to ask for clarification on where he allegedly misinterpreted any rules for filming in Qatar.
“You have invited the whole world here. Why can’t we make a movie? It’s a public space,” he said.
He quickly credentialed the press on his phone, confirming their permission to film, but as a man struggles with the camera lens, a security guard claims the camera will be destroyed if they don’t stop filming.
The Danes show their accreditation to the press and say they have permission to film. The guards then follow through on a threat. If they don’t stop rolling, they will destroy the camera.
“You can break the camera,” he added. “You want to break it? Move on. You threaten us by breaking the camera.’
Danish reporter Rasmus Tantholdt was interrupted while presenting live on a TV show in Qatar
Security officials disagreed with him filming and soon threatened to destroy his camera
A security guard tries to explain that he cannot film, despite his accreditation permit
Speaking from Qatar to Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Tantholdt confirmed he had since apologized to representatives in Qatar, but being stopped during a live broadcast raised a number of concerns for him.
“I don’t think the message from the top in Qatar got through to all the security guards,” he was quoted as saying.
Therefore, one can argue that there are some who have misunderstood the situation, but at the same time it says a lot about how it is in Qatar. There you can be attacked and threatened when you are listed as a free agent.’
“It is not a free and democratic country,” he added. “My experience after visiting 110 countries in the world is: The longer you have to hide, the harder it is to report from there.”
Qatari officials (pictured) arrived in a golf cart as the live broadcast continued
Tantholdt appeared to show off his accreditation to the press before claiming he didn’t need a license
Qatar has come under intense criticism and scrutiny for its human rights abuses and attitude towards the LGBTQ+ community since being awarded the 2022 World Cup rights 12 years ago.
It is also not the first time that journalists have had problems trying to report freely and openly in Qatar.
Norwegian network NRK faced its own problems when reporting from Qatar last year.
Two of their journalists, Halvor Ekeland and Lokman Ghorbani, were arrested and subsequently jailed in Qatar on allegations that the pair were filming on private land.
They were held for about 30 hours before being released and sent back to Norway.
In November last year, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre described the treatment of journalists in the Gulf state as “unacceptable”.
“A free press is vital to a functioning democracy,” he added.
It seems there are still problems for journalists just days before the tournament starts.
Qatar’s High Commission later issued an apology after the video went viral on social media
NEW: I took a picture of the Qatar World Cup slogan on the media center wall today—and a security guard came over and asked me to delete it from my phone. Is this how this World Cup will work? Story: pic.twitter.com/SPmG5CnrjQ
— Join GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) November 15, 2022
American author Grant Wahl had his own run-in with security staff who told him to delete a photo he had taken in the media centre.
Elaborating on the story on his Twitter account, Wahl wrote: “I took a picture of the Qatar World Cup slogan on the media center wall today – and a security guard came and asked me to delete it from my phone. Is this how this World Cup will work?’
He was told “no photography allowed” before protesting that he was just taking a picture.
“Delete it, sir,” came the reply.
The World Cup kicks off on Sunday when Qatar take on Ecuador.
title: “Qatari Officials Threaten To Destroy Danish Reporter S Camera While He Is Live On Tv " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-15” author: “Gail Wightman”
Reporting from Qatar days before the opening match of the FIFA World Cup, TV2 reporter Rasmus Tantholdt was speaking as part of a live broadcast when he was approached by security personnel who had appeared in a golf cart.
It quickly became apparent that he was not welcome to film and he was quickly threatened with having his camera broken and destroyed.
The video, which has gone viral on social media, showed Tantholdt switching to English to ask for clarification on where he allegedly misinterpreted any rules for filming in Qatar.
“You have invited the whole world here. Why can’t we make a movie? It’s a public space,” he said.
He quickly credentialed the press on his phone, confirming their permission to film, but as a man struggles with the camera lens, a security guard claims the camera will be destroyed if they don’t stop filming.
The Danes show their accreditation to the press and say they have permission to film. The guards then follow through on a threat. If they don’t stop rolling, they will destroy the camera.
“You can break the camera,” he added. “You want to break it? Move on. You threaten us by breaking the camera.’
Danish reporter Rasmus Tantholdt was interrupted while presenting live on a TV show in Qatar
Security officials disagreed with him filming and soon threatened to destroy his camera
A security guard tries to explain that he cannot film, despite his accreditation permit
Speaking from Qatar to Norwegian broadcaster NRK, Tantholdt confirmed he had since apologized to representatives in Qatar, but being stopped during a live broadcast raised a number of concerns for him.
“I don’t think the message from the top in Qatar got through to all the security guards,” he was quoted as saying.
Therefore, one can argue that there are some who have misunderstood the situation, but at the same time it says a lot about how it is in Qatar. There you can be attacked and threatened when you are listed as a free agent.’
“It is not a free and democratic country,” he added. “My experience after visiting 110 countries in the world is: The longer you have to hide, the harder it is to report from there.”
Qatari officials (pictured) arrived in a golf cart as the live broadcast continued
Tantholdt appeared to show off his accreditation to the press before claiming he didn’t need a license
Qatar has come under intense criticism and scrutiny for its human rights abuses and attitude towards the LGBTQ+ community since being awarded the 2022 World Cup rights 12 years ago.
It is also not the first time that journalists have had problems trying to report freely and openly in Qatar.
Norwegian network NRK faced its own problems when reporting from Qatar last year.
Two of their journalists, Halvor Ekeland and Lokman Ghorbani, were arrested and subsequently jailed in Qatar on allegations that the pair were filming on private land.
They were held for about 30 hours before being released and sent back to Norway.
In November last year, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre described the treatment of journalists in the Gulf state as “unacceptable”.
“A free press is vital to a functioning democracy,” he added.
It seems there are still problems for journalists just days before the tournament starts.
Qatar’s High Commission later issued an apology after the video went viral on social media
NEW: I took a picture of the Qatar World Cup slogan on the media center wall today—and a security guard came over and asked me to delete it from my phone. Is this how this World Cup will work? Story: pic.twitter.com/SPmG5CnrjQ
— Join GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) November 15, 2022
American author Grant Wahl had his own run-in with security staff who told him to delete a photo he had taken in the media centre.
Elaborating on the story on his Twitter account, Wahl wrote: “I took a picture of the Qatar World Cup slogan on the media center wall today – and a security guard came and asked me to delete it from my phone. Is this how this World Cup will work?’
He was told “no photography allowed” before protesting that he was just taking a picture.
“Delete it, sir,” came the reply.
The World Cup kicks off on Sunday when Qatar take on Ecuador.
