World Cup 2023 Final: Man with 'Free Palestine' T-shirt halts play briefly

A man donning ‘Free Palestine’ T-shirt stormed on to the pitch during the India vs Australia World Cup final in Ahmedabad on Sunday. The streaker tried to hug India batter Virat Kohli having gone past tight security during a drinks break. The individual wore red shorts and a white T-shirt that had the message ‘Stop bombing Palestine’ on the front and ‘Free Palestine’ on the back. He wore a face mask in Palestine’s flag colours. The man also carried a rainbow flag. [caption id=“attachment_13404342” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] A spectator wearing a T-shirt seeking peace in Palestine ran on to the pitch during the World Cup final. AP[/caption] Ahmedabad police booked the 24-year-old fan, identified as Wen Johnson, on charges of trespassing and obstructing public servants in the discharge of duty. He was then detained and taken to Chandkheda police station. World Cup 2023: News | Schedule | Results | Points table “The Australian national, identified as Wen Johnson, has been detained and booked on the charges of trespassing and obstructing public servants in discharge of duty,” said Viraj Jadeja, inspector, Chandkheda police station. Johnson was detained after an FIR was registered. When asked about his motive, Johnson told reporters that he wanted to meet Kohli and that he was wearing the T-shirt with the slogans because he supports Palestine. It caused the blockbuster clash between India and Australia to be interrupted briefly. After the halt, KL Rahul and Virat Kohli resumed things for India having been put into bat by Australia skipper Pat Cummins.

Israel has been carrying out aerial and ground assault on Gaza in response to Hamas’ terrorist attack on 7 October. There has been growing condemnation of the violence against Palestinians with the casualty count of the war growing well past 10,000 people.