The Russia World Cup final was every bit as exciting as the fans expected. A six-goal thriller played out in Moscow, as France were crowned champions in great style. Leading up to the tournament, there had been fears around the political unrest and concerns that racism could be a problem. However, what unfolded was one of the best World Cup tournaments to date, without the news being filled with footage of violence, World Cup riots and the ugly side of football.
Pitch invasion World Cup final
For a few minutes in the final yesterday, that looked like it could all change, as there was a World Cup pitch invader breakout. During the second half, a first World Cup final pitch invader alluded security to get onto the pitch, then several more people ran onto the pitch. Croatia’s Dejan Lovren was quick to stop the invasion, holding one guy until security removed him.
Pussy Riot claim responsibility for pitch invasion at World Cup 2018 final
To start with, it just looked like a standard pitch invasion, where some idiot wanted to get famous by being on TV in a huge moment in history. However, the three people detained were dressed in police uniforms and afterwards, the Russian band Pussy Riot claimed responsibility for the invasion as a World Cup protest.
Pussy Riot have often been at the centre of controversy as they have been involved in a number of incidents that they claim are in protest of human rights abuses in Russia. They released a statement via their Facebook page that focuses on police behaviour and the justice system, claiming that their protest was in honour of the death of poet Dimitriy Prigov.
This pitch invasion has certainly achieved the level of exposure that they were seeking, with the invasion making the news on all of the biggest worldwide channels like Sky News. Previously, they have been in controversy through performances that were directing negativity towards the Russian President Vladimir Putin.