A World Cup Reporter Was Forced Off The Air In Qatar & They Threatened To 'Break' The Camera
It all happened on live TV!
With the 2022 FIFA World Cup starting soon and reporters from all over the world flooding into Doha, Qatar, things don't always go so smoothly.
One Danish reporter found himself in a bit of a kerfuffle when Qatari security guards interrupted his live TV broadcast and forced him to shut it all down despite having all the proper accreditation to film.
Rasmus Tantholdt, a reporter for TV2, was in the middle of a live broadcast in Doha when three men on a golf cart interrupted him and tried to end his segment while he was still on air.
Tantholdt shared the awkward footage on his Twitter, in which you can see the men appear in the background and then try to cover the camera.
"Mister, you invited the whole world to come here. Why can't we film?" Tantholdt can be heard saying to one of the men. "It's a public place."
Tantholdt can then be seen pulling out his accreditation and saying: "We can film anywhere we want."
After a bit of back and forth and arguing with the men, one of them threatened to break Tantholdt's team's camera.
"You can break the camera; you want to break the camera? OK, you break the camera." Tantholdt says to the man. "So you're threatening us by smashing the camera."
The video has been viewed over 14.4 million times since Tantholdt posted it on Twitter.
Tantholdt confirmed in his tweet that he and his team have received an apology from "Qatar International Media Office and from Qatar Supreme Committee."
After the video went viral, the World Cup Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy came out with a statement apologizing for the incident and acknowledged that the Danish network was "mistakenly interrupted," reported TMZ.
"Upon inspection of the crew's valid tournament accreditation and filming permit, an apology was made to the broadcaster by on-site security before the crew resumed their activity," said the committee in their statement.
Tantholdt told TV2 that he believes similar instances will occur as more international reporters flock to Qatar, but that he will continue his coverage of the sporting event "undeterred."