World Cup 2022: Protester invades pitch during Portugal v Uruguay

The protestor invaded the pitch during the second half of Portugal v Uruguay Host nation: Qatar Dates: 20 November-18 December Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app. Day-by-day TV listings – Full coverage details

A protester carrying a rainbow flag invaded the pitch during the World Cup game between Portugal and Uruguay.

Mario Ferri wore a T-shirt with ‘Save Ukraine’ on the front and ‘Respect for Iranian woman’ on the back.

Stewards chased him and he dropped the flag before being taken off the field at Lusail Stadium.

Italian activist Ferri was released by authorities “after a brief detention”, said the Italian foreign ministry.

In a statement to AFP, the ministry said there were no further consequences for Ferri.

The decision to stage the World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, has been criticised by LGBTQ+ groups.

Ferri has staged similar protests before, including at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where he raised the issue of children living in poverty.

Before the tournament in Qatar, Fifa wrote to all 32 competing teams to tell them to “focus on the football”.

Qatar World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman called homosexuality “damage in the mind” prior to the tournament, comments which Human Rights Watch said were “harmful and unacceptable”.

England, Wales and other European nations decided not to wear the OneLove armband at the World Cup after Fifa threatened captains with sporting sanctions.

The captains, including England’s Harry Kane and Gareth Bale of Wales, had planned to wear the armband during matches to promote diversity and inclusion.

Meanwhile, Iran players declined to sing their national anthem before their World Cup match with England in an apparent expression of support for anti-government protests.

Protests in Iran were sparked by the death in custody in September of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly breaking the strict rules around head coverings.

Portugal beat Uruguay 2-0 in Monday’s Group H game.

World Cup chief says 400-500 migrant workers died

Qatar World Cup chief Hassan Al Thawadi has told Piers Morgan an estimated 400-500 migrant workers died “as a result of work connected to the World Cup” in an interview in Doha.

Until now, organisers have maintained that three migrant workers died on stadia sites with a 37 further fatalities of stadia workers off-site due to non-work reasons after an investigation by The Guardian external-link said 6,500 migrant workers had died while building the infrastructure for the World Cup.

Nicholas McGeehan, director of human rights organisation FairSquare, said it was “the latest example of Qatar’s inexcusable lack of transparency” on workers’ deaths.

“We need proper data and thorough investigations, not vague figures announced through media interviews,” he said.

“Fifa and Qatar still have a lot of questions to answer, not least where, when, and how did these men die and did their families receive compensation.”

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