Organizers of the 2022 World Cup have apologized to the Danish television station, TV2, after an altercation by Qatari officials in Doha, where they threatened to destroy the station’s camera equipment.
After the incident, which occurred on Tuesday evening, the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy acknowledged in a statement that the Danish journalists were “were mistakenly interrupted.”
“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,” organizers of the World Cup said.
During the live broadcast, reporter Rasmus Tantholdt was speaking to a news anchor when three men drove up behind him on an electric cart and tried to obstruct the footage.
Speaking in English, Tantholdt was heard expressing, “You can break the camera; you want to break it? You are threatening us by smashing the camera?”
Denmark has been one of the foremost critics of having the World Cup in Qatar due to the country’s record on human rights and the treatment of low-paid migrant workers.