FIFA World Cup 2022: Fan in ‘Save Ukraine’ shirt, carrying Pride Flag invades Portugal vs Uruguay game

The highly anticipated game between Portugal and Uruguay at FIFA World Cup 2022 on Monday was halted after a fan ran into the ground with a rainbow flag — which is usually regarded as the Pride flag that stands to represent the LGBTQ community. 

The incident occurred minutes before Portugal took a 1-0 lead, thanks to Bruno Fernandes’ goal. The pitch invader, who was wearing a superman shirt that also read, “Save Ukraine” was nabbed by the security, but not before he could run half the length of the pitch.

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All the while he was holding a pride flag. At some point, he seemed to have dropped his flag while trying to get away from the security chasing him and the referee picked it up. The cameras cut away from him, probably not to give air time to his propaganda or action. 

The Group H game was paused for less than five minutes until Iranian referee Alireza Faghani retrieved the flag. 

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Qatar’s abysmal human rights record has been the talk of the world before the Middle Eastern host nation took the center stage for one of the most highly anticipated games of the year. Some of the controversies and criticisms that Qatar has had to deal with include its stance on LGBTQ and women’s rights, along with its treatment of foreign workers who helped build the stadiums for the matches. 

After European teams were denied permission to wear their one-love armbands, which was to show support for the LGBTQ community, there were also reports from fans and media who had clothes and other possessions, such as watches and hats, with rainbow colors confiscated. Some were even denied entry into games.