Diary of a gay football fan at the Qatar World Cup – The Times

I have always associated burner phones with criminals but, as a gay man in Qatar, I was a criminal. Flying in on the day from Dubai to the opening game of England’s World Cup campaign, I made a point of travelling light. Inside a small shoulder bag I just had a T-shirt, a flag, some sun cream and a battery pack. I left my normal phone in Dubai and downloaded the Hayya Card app we needed to enter the country, as well as to access our match tickets, onto the burner. If the Qataris were going to get hold of my information through the app, I wanted it to be as limited as possible.

I had tickets for all three of England’s group games, but