UAE denies Briton held for wearing Qatar football shirt

LONDON, United Kingdom: The United Arab Emirates embassy in London denied Wednesday reports that a British man was arrested in the country for wearing a Qatar football shirt, saying he was in fact held for wasting police time. It said Ali Essa Ahmed, described as a dual Sudanese-British citizen, last month reported to police that “he had been harassed and beaten up by UAE national football fans for cheering the Qatar team”, at the Asian Cup finals. The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, cut all ties with Qatar in June 2017 over allegations that the energy-rich state supports Islamic extremists. The embassy said police took Ahmed to hospital “where a doctor who examined him concluded that his injuries were inconsistent with his account of events and appeared to be self-inflicted”. As a result, on January 24, “Mr Ahmed was charged with wasting police time and making false statements”, the embassy said. “We are advised he has since admitted those offences and will now be processed through the UAE courts,” said a statement posted online. It said the British embassy in UAE had been contacted and “due process has been followed”, adding that Ahmed speaks Arabic “and fully understands the situation he has put himself in”.