A World Cup match on Monday between Portugal and Uruguay was briefly interrupted by a protester who stormed the field to showcase his messages of support.
The protester, later identified as Mario Ferri, ran onto the field holding a rainbow flag and wearing a blue Superman T-shirt that said “SAVE UKRAINE” on the front and “RESPECT FOR IRANIAN WOMAN” on the back.
A pitch invader runs is caught while running across the field with a rainbow flag during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Portugal and Uruguay, at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Monday, Nov. 28, 2022.
(AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Security officials chased him down, and the flag was dropped on the field before he was escorted away. The protester was ushered away through a tunnel.
Ferri has a history of interrupting matches to bring attention to world issues. He also ran onto the field in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and wore a shirt that read “Save Favelas Children,” according to Rolling Stone. Ferri also drove from Italy to Poland to help refugees who escaped Russia’s invasion.
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The Qatari government has strict rules against gay sex and treatment of LGBTQ people, which came under fire in the lead up to the World Cup. Seven European teams lost the battle to wear a multicolored “One Love” armband during matches, while fans were met with issues while trying to bring in rainbow-colored items or wear something with a rainbow flag on it during the matches.
A pitch invader runs across the field with a rainbow flag during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Portugal and Uruguay, at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Monday, Nov. 28, 2022.
(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
A pitch invader runs across the field with a rainbow flag during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Portugal and Uruguay, at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Monday, Nov. 28, 2022.
(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Bruno Fernandes, of Portugal, told reporters he thought the protester was trying to take a picture with Cristiano Ronaldo.
“To be honest I didn’t really see what was the message that was trying to be conveyed,” Fernandes said through a translator. “But we’ve already spoken about that many times. … We respect all human rights, but those are political issues where we unfortunately don’t really have much strength, where we can’t really change anything.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
