Actions

Protester who ran across field with rainbow flag banned from World Cup matches

Soccer WCup Analysis The World Turns
Posted

The World Cup match between Portugal and Uruguay on Monday was briefly interrupted when a protestor ran across the field with a rainbow flag.

The Associated Press captured an image of the man, later identified as Mario Ferri, carrying the flag while wearing a T-shirt with a Superman emblem with messages supporting Ukraine and Iranian women on it.

According to the news outlet, the incident occurred during the match's second half when Ferri ran onto the field. He was chased down by security officials before dropping the flag and was escorted away.

On Tuesday, the World Cup organizing committee announced Ferri was banned from attending any more World Cup games in Qatar, the news outlet reported.

“As a consequence of his actions, and as is standard practice, his (entry permit) has been canceled and he has been banned from attending future matches at this tournament,” the committee said in a statement per the Associated Press.

According to a social media post, Ferri said he was prompted to protest after “One Love” armbands were prohibited from being worn by the captains of seven European teams, the AP reported.