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 state supports extremists.