UPDATED with latest: The 6pm PT replay of tonight’s World Cup game between Portugal and Uruguay on Fox Sports 1 was missing 32 seconds of game time. At the 50-33 mark of the game, there is an abrupt cut from the players on the field to the back of a Uruguayan player’s head. At the same moment, the game clock in the upper left corner of the screen jumps from 50:33 to 51:04 without explanation.
The 32 seconds in question happens to be the moment a protester entered the field, waving a rainbow flag and wearing a shirt with messages in support of Iranian women and Ukrainian independence. In live footage, the protester could be seen very briefly running across the bottom left of the screen as Fox Sports’ John Strong briefly remarked: “The game is stopped here [unintelligible] someone who has come onto the field.” The new version of the sequence now only contains “The game will stop here” before the jump is cut to the back of the player’s head and the game continues.
BEFORE at 3:06 p.m: A protester made it onto the field during the World Cup match between Portugal and Uruguay today, but you might not know it unless you were on the field yourself. Television footage of the moment, coming in the 51st minute of the game, was almost non-existent as the protester ran through the bottom left corner of the screen in a split second and the referee then bent down to pick up the rainbow flag he had been carrying .
According to news photos, the man wore a Pride flag and a shirt with the Superman logo and the words “Save Ukraine” on the front and “Respect for Iranian Woman” on the back. He was eventually attacked by security forces and led away to boos from the crowd.
Getty Images
Any reference to the ongoing protests in Iran at the World Cup was a sensitive issue for that country’s leadership allegedly went so far as to threaten his own players and their families if Team Iran don’t “behave” in tomorrow’s game against USA.
Qatar’s record on gender and LGBT+ equality was also in the spotlight. Stonewall’s Director of Communications and External Affairs, Robbie de Santos, told Deadline ahead of the tournament: “LGBTQ+ people in Qatar are criminalized and persecuted simply for existing and cannot compromise who they are. It is vital that those of us with influence, including broadcasters, make it clear that we expect the Qatari authorities to respect and uphold freedom of assembly and expression and the rights of all, including LGBTQ+ people. ”
Fox Sports US coverage executive producer David Neal said ahead of the tournament that the channel’s coverage would focus on the sport rather than the issues surrounding it. “Our stance is if it affects the pitch, we’re going to cover it and cover it completely,” he said. “But if not, then it’s a side issue for the history of the tournament. There are many other establishments and outlets that will cover this. We firmly believe that spectators come to us to see what’s happening on the pitch.”
The game was actually stopped because of the protester. And while Fox has little control over the video feed provided by FIFA, there didn’t seem to be much on-air discussion of the network’s John Strong and Stu Holden moment.
Strong remarked briefly, “The game is suspended here [unintelligible] someone who came onto the field,” but may have struggled to see exactly what was going on without the benefit of a close-up.
Deadline has contacted FIFA and will add any comments received.
After the game, Portugal’s Ruben Neves said: via ESPN, “We know what happened around this World Cup. It’s normal for that to happen. Of course we are all there too. Iran too because I saw his shirt. I hope nothing happens to the boy because we get his message and I think the whole world got it too.”