The match between Portugal and Uruguay was interrupted for a moment on Monday when an uninvited guest rushed onto the field with a rainbow flag in his hands.
One of the most telling situations of the soccer World Cup was not seen on television for several seconds.
On Monday, the match between Portugal and Uruguay had gone to the second period when the game was called off due to an extra guest. The protester jumped onto the field over Portugal’s bench and ran a few tens of meters before being tackled by security guards.
In football circles Mario Ferri has already become more familiar. Over the years, Ferri, known as “Hawk” has run onto the field in several matches around the world, usually with different political or social messages. The cases have a Teräsmies shirt in common, which was also worn by the player who took the field on Monday.
This time, the front of the shirt read “save Ukraine” in English. Selkämys, on the other hand, drove the position of Iran’s women, who have spoken throughout the Games also in connection with the matches. In addition, there was a rainbow flag in the hand, which fell in the middle of the field. The Iranian referee of the match went a moment later to move the flag to the side of the field, while the security guards ushered the uninvited guest into the stadium.
The position of sexual and gender minorities is difficult in Qatar. Homosexuality is forbidden in the country, and for example the general secretary of Seta ry Kerttu Tarjamon according to which the rights of sexual minorities are constantly violated.
Rainbow flags have been one of the constant talking points of the tournament in Qatar. The international football association Fifa only allowed rainbow emblems in stadiums last week. Instead, it disallowed the “One Love” captain’s armband, which the captains of the seven teams wanted to wear. The teams abandoned their plans due to the sanctions threatened by Fifa.
Ferri had already published material from Qatar on his Instagram account over the weekend. In the story update, he walked towards the match stadium looming in the distance with accompanying words “I’ll be there tomorrow too”. In another, he appeared with a pensive expression, writing about “the crazy plans of ordinary people”. In the third update, just below the match, he walked towards the stadium with the match tickets in hand, and in the fourth, he photographed the pitch from the end stand.
From the underdogs of India to the middle of the war
Ferri was also seen on the field at the World Cup in 2014 in the match between Belgium and the United States. Back then, the shirt had a message in favor of saving children living in poor favela areas.
The 35-year-old Ferri has dedicated himself to the ideas he espoused on Monday. In 2010, he briefly interrupted the match between Real Madrid and AC Milan in the Champions League. The shirt called for “freedom For Sakineh“, to a woman sentenced to stoning for her alleged crimes in Iran.
Earlier this year, the Italian, who played football at the second league level in India, returned to Europe after the coronavirus interrupted the league season and went to Poland to help refugees from the war in Ukraine. to CBS in March (you will switch to another service) according to his interview, Ferri has transported families to the border to seek asylum.
In addition to Ukraine and India, Ferri has also recently published material from local families at least from Burundi. Last summer, he represented the team from San Marino and played in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers.
As a result of his repeated raptures, Ferri has been arrested both abroad and in Italy, where he has been ordered at least under house arrest.
In general, for spectators running onto the field, sanctions have been imposed not only on the individuals themselves, but also on the club or association that organized the match event. in England The Premier League has enforced lifetime gate bans (you switch to another service) to the spectators rushing to the field.
Rushing onto the field is also prohibited, for example for the safety of the players.
After the hijacking of the 2014 Games, Brazilian authorities confiscated Ferri’s passport, held him according to news agency Ansa (you will switch to another service) detained for five hours, banned him from future matches and planned to charge him with storming the pitch and using a fake identity.
Information about the consequences of the event in Qatar has not yet leaked to the public.