The UK’s first openly gay sports minister has promised to wear the OneLove armband to the World Cup – Stylist Magazine

He said that as a gay man, he is in a “unique position” to be able to send a message of solidarity to the LGBTQ+ football fans who did not feel safe travelling to Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal and carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison, for the tournament.

“It means a lot to me personally, means a lot to me as a minister and more broadly, means a lot to fans out there,” he said. “It is pretty appalling that at the eleventh hour [footballers] were put in a position where they were told there would be sanctions against them. That’s put them in an impossible position.”

Andrew said that he had thought “long and hard” about whether to attend the World Cup “because it is a very deeply personal decision”.

“I have done a lot of work before this tournament started,” he explained. “I met with the Qatari ambassador and had a very frank conversation about what does ‘everyone is welcome’ actually mean.

“I have a responsibility to go there and see for myself that is actually what has been delivered on the ground. And if it isn’t in any way then to challenge that.”