Qatar police stop French TV from filming at World Cup and knock cameras from journalists hands

Qatar police on Tuesday (November 29) appeared to stop France 24 journalist Simon Harding from filming officers and what appears to be anti-regime Iranian protesters at the World Cup, a video filmed by the journalist showed.

Harding told France 24 he was covering scuffles between pro-regime Iranian supporters and anti-regime protesters, near Al Thumama Stadium in Doha after the Iran-United States match.

In the video, police intervening at the scene appeared to tell him to stop filming and tried to grab his phone, though Harding says his media accreditation was visible.

He later said on Twitter that Danish journalist Rasmus Tantholdt was also stopped from filming on that occasion, and Tantholdt said on his own account that he was detained by police and asked to delete his footage.

Tantholdt, a reporter for Danish channel TV2, had already been forced off the air earlier this month by private security guards in Qatar.