Brazilian journalist at World Cup says regional flag mistaken for LGBTQ symbol

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Preview, Doha, Qatar - November 18, 2022 The FIFA World Cup logo is pictured on the Corniche Promenade ahead of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A journalist covering the soccer World Cup in Qatar on Tuesday said local police hassled him outside a stadium after a regional Brazilian flag was mistaken for an LGBTQ pride flag.

Brazilian Victor Pereira said authorities seized his phone after he recorded a man's negative reaction to Pereira's colorful flag of Brazil's northeastern Pernambuco state, which sports a rainbow, a red cross and a star.