The television faded him out even faster than he could walk: At the World Cup group match between Portugal and Uruguay, a speedster with a rainbow flag and other political messages caused a stir.
A few minutes after the start of the second half, a spectator with a colorful flag ran across the pitch at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar on Monday evening, but was quickly stopped by stewards. Referee Alireza Faghani picked up the flag and took it off the field.
At first, one could only speculate about the motives of the speedster. The subject’s Superman shirt also read “Save Ukraine” on the front chest and “Respect for Iranian Women” on the back.
The rainbow is the symbol for the LGBTQI* community. LGBT is the English abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. The variants LGBTQ, LGBTQI or LGBTQIA are also often used. Each letter represents one’s gender identity or sexual orientation.
