A British national who was detained and tortured in UAE for wearing a Qatar football shirt during an AFC Asian Cup match has launched a legal claim against the UAE, reported the popular UK-daily, The Guardian.

The 26-year-old native of Wovlerhampton, Ali Issa Ahmad, a security guard claims that he travelled to UAE for a holiday in January. While there, he bought a ticket for the Asian Cup quarterfinal match between Qatar and Iraq on January 22.

Ahmad donned a Qatar football shirt at the football match unaware that the act may be a punishable offence in UAE. He was approached by UAE officials who asked him to handover the shirt, which he did but says he was followed back to his hotel in Dubai where he was arrested and detained, according to Al Jazeera.

During the period he was held by the UAE authorities, Ahmad says he was beaten and burned, reported Qatar Tribune.

Ahmad is now making a human rights claim against the UAE government for the physical harm inflicted on him. He hopes to fund this with a CrowdJustice campaign.

According to the information on the Foreign Office (FCO) website, it is a legal offence to promote Qatar in UAE and may result in a large fine and imprisonment.

Ahmad’s lawyers have urged the Foreign Office to launch a full investigation into what exactly happened to him during his trip and wrote to the foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, on Wednesday, stressing for urgent action in this case.

Ahmad has further claimed that he was forced to sign a confession by UAE officials that pressured him to declare that he had wasted police time in this event.

Following the incident, Ahmad came back to the UK with a number of wounds to his arm and injuries to his chest, among other prominent signs of physical harm.

He further revealed that he was deprived of sleep, food and water for many days while he was kept under interrogation prior to being transferred to a police cell in Sharjah where he was held until February 12 and later freed.

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Cover Image Credit: The Guardian