A protestor wearing a ‘Free Palestine’ t-shirt disrupted the Cricket World Cup final by running onto the pitch and putting his arm around Virat Kohli, before being wrestled to the ground and removed.

The protestor ran onto the outfield and reached Kohli, who appeared clearly unsettled. He was then wrestled to the ground by security after escorted off the outfield and out of the ground.

Around 6,000 police are on duty at Modi Stadium for the final. The protestor breached a ten foot high fence to reach the outfield.

He had a mask with the colours of Palestine attached to his face, and a Palestinian flag on the back of his t-shirt. He was alongside Kohli for around three seconds before being grabbed by a member of stadium security.

“I support Palestine,” the protester, called Jonathan and one of the few Australians in the ground, said in an interview with ANI. “I protested with the war and stuff.”

The protester added that he entered the field: “to meet up with Virat Kohli,” suggesting that he deliberately sought out the most high-profile cricketer in the world to maximise media interest in his actions. 

The World Cup final, played between Australia and India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, is being watched by around 120,000 fans in the ground and a worldwide television audience expected to be around one billion.

The International Cricket Council declined to comment on the protestor stopping the World Cup final.

The incident, which took place in the 14th over of India’s innings, is the latest in a series of breaches of player safety in major cricket matches this year, which have raised concerns about the welfare of players.  

In June, England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow tackled a Just Stop Oil protestor on the outfield at Lord’s. The protestor was one of three people who had invaded the pitch, climbing over the perimeter fence and LED advertising boards at the ground to deposit orange paint on the outfield to raise awareness about climate change.

Nick Collins, the head of security at Lord’s, said in September: “If the wicket had been damaged or altered, we couldn’t use that wicket going forward, which would have meant the whole series would have had to have been cancelled at Lord’s.

“If the wicket becomes unplayable, the match would have to be abandoned.

“I remember certain members of the England team trying to shoo them away from the wicket.”

Source The Telegraph

BDST: 2111 HRS, NOV 19, 2023
MSK