His name is Mario Ferri and it’s not the first time he’s invaded a pitch to claim social causes. Yesterday he did it to defend the freedom of Ukrainians and Iranian women
The World Cup in Qatar will not go down in history because of football. Between the low level currently shown by the big teams and the political gestures that predominate every day, fans are left with the latter.
Yesterday was another hit in Portugal-Uruguay. The star match of the day, which ended with a Portuguese victory, made headlines due to the invasion of a fan who tried to boycott the World Cup. The man’s name is Mario Ferri and he jumped into the field waving a rainbow flag used in Italy to demand peace, very similar to the flag representing the LGBT collective, but with a more light blue color and a different order than those used by the collective. He also did it with several messages on his shirt. It read ‘respect Iranian women’ and ‘save Ukraine’. It’s not the first time he’s invaded a field. He already did it at the World Cup in Brazil, with a message that read ‘save the children of the favelas’, and in the Champions League final between Manchester United and Barça in 2011.
The cameras broadcasting the matches, as usual, stopped focusing on the field when they noticed the presence of the spontaneous. Still, they couldn’t stop it from sneaking onto the small screen. Millions of people around the world watched the race that Mario Ferri held in the stadium where the World Cup final will take place.
Although he did not carry the LGBT flag, everyone thought he did for a few hours and the claim was widely applauded on social networks. And by the way, the fan’s plight raised concern among users, who wrote sarcastic messages like “go to jail” or “DEP”. And it is that “homosexuality is not allowed” in Qatar, and it is also punishable by up to five years in prison. The chairman of the organizing committee Nasser Al-Khater warned it a year ago, and he repeated it a few weeks ago. So did the head of World Cup security. “If a fan waves a rainbow flag in a stadium and takes it away, it’s not because we want to offend them, but for their own good. To protect you. If we don’t, someone can attack him,” said General Abdullh al-Ansari.
The rainbow colors representing the LGBT community are banned in Qatar. FIFA’s veto was added to the prohibitions of the local authorities. The highest body in world football surprised everyone when it threatened players with sporting sanctions if they wore the ‘One Love’ bracelet.
Qatar’s choice to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup marked a before and after in the football world. Subsequent journalistic investigations showed signs of an allegedly fraudulent election of the host country thanks to alleged bribery of senior FIFA officials. A judge will rule on these charges in the coming months. The dome that governed football at the time collapsed like a house of cards, although the new leaders kept Qatar as the host country, despite anti-gay laws and the thousands of migrant workers who died in their facilities. President Gianni Infantino has been living in the capital of Qatar for a year now.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
