- A protester ran onto the pitch at a World Cup game Monday holding a rainbow flag.
- Mario Ferri Falco also wore a T-shirt that said "Save Ukraine" and "Respect for Iranian Woman."
A protester ran onto the pitch at a World Cup game between Portugal and Uruguay on Monday, holding a rainbow flag to protest the host Qatar's stance on homosexuality.
Mario Ferri Falco, a serial pitch invader, also wore a T-shirt that said "Save Ukraine" on the front and "Respect for Iranian Woman" on the back.
Stewards chased him, and he dropped the flag on the pitch before being escorted off the field at Lusail Stadium.
Falco — nicknamed "Il Falco," or "The Falcon" — is a 35-year-old Italian activist and a professional soccer player who most recently played in India. In 2010, he ran onto the pitch during a game in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with the message "Free Sakineh," referencing Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman who was sentenced to death by stoning after being found guilty of adultery and conspiring to murder her husband.
She was eventually released in 2014 after nine years on death row.
At the 2014 World Cup, in Brazil, Falco also interrupted a game with the message "Save Favelas Children."
In Qatar, homosexuality is illegal and punishable by prison or, in some cases, death. Ahead of this year's World Cup, the tournament ambassador Khalid Salman called homosexuality "damage in the mind."
England, Germany, and other European nations originally planned to have their team captains wear rainbow armbands that said "OneLove" at the tournament to promote diversity and inclusion, but they opted against doing so after being threatened with sporting sanctions by world soccer's governing body, FIFA.
Denmark's captain, Simon Kjær, has continued to wear the armband despite the threat.
Meanwhile, Iran's players refused to sing its country's national anthem before its World Cup match with England last week in an apparent expression of support for anti-government protesters back home.
Protests in Iran were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in custody in September after being detained by morality police on suspicion of breaking the country's strict rules around head coverings.
Witnesses accused police officers of forcing her into a van and beating her in Tehran.