Protestor interrupts the FIFA World Cup waving a pride flag
During the 51st minute of the Portugal vs Uruguay FIFA World Cup match today, an individual waving a pride flag stormed the field and brought the game to a temporary halt in Qatar. He was also wearing a teeshirt with the words “Save Ukraine” on the front and “Respect for Iranian Women” on the back.
The global streaming of the game actually managed to avoid broadcasting the incident properly, however, footage of the individual storming the field, donning the pride flag, and being chased by security did make it to the feed. As the individual was removed from the field, the pride flag was left behind and collected by a match official afterward.
The pride flag and any other rainbow-affiliated clothing or paraphernalia have been banned during the broadcast of the FIFA World Cup because of Qatar’s religious beliefs and practices. The intruder today was not the first individual reprimanded for displaying pride iconography.
American journalist Grant Wahl was detained for wearing a teeshirt with a soccer ball with the pride colors on his shirt. He was told he had to remove the shirt because it was “not allowed”. Wahl tweeted that security officers were rough when handling him and “one guard forcibly ripped my phone from my hands.”
He was released after about twenty-five minutes with an apology from a FIFA representative and a senior member of the security team.
Some Welsh fans were also denied entry to the stadium for wearing rainbow-colored hats. The Welsh Football Association reported that FIF had confirmed that rainbow colored flags and hats would be allowed at the stadiums in Qatar. Despite this, the former Welsh captain, Laura McAllister, was also stopped by security and told to remove pride clothing before entering.
Official teams have also been prevented from wearing pride logos on their uniforms, or any part of their body while in official stadiums in Qatar.
