World Cup pitch invader defends 'breaking rules' despite ban

The Italian who ran onto the World Cup pitch wearing a T-shirt in support of Ukraine and Iranian women defended his protest Tuesday, despite being served a tournament ban.

Mario Ferri, 35, a football player with a history of similar stunts, interrupted the Portugal-Uruguay game Monday when he sprinted onto the pitch wearing a blue Superman T-shirt with "Save Ukraine" on the front and "Respect for Iranian Woman" on the back.

Ferri, who calls himself "The Falcon", also carried a rainbow-coloured flag adorned with the words PACE, meaning peace in Italian.

"I'm BACK," wrote Ferri on his Instagram page on Tuesday, where he describes himself as a "modern pirate".

FIFA said Ferri's official card to access the Qatar stadiums was cancelled and that he had been banned from future World Cup matches.

Italy's foreign ministry confirmed that Ferri had been briefly detained after running onto the pitch before being released "without any further consequences".

To his 133,000 followers on Instagram, Ferri said he undertook the stunt to send "important messages", including for Iran "where I have friends who are suffering, where women are not respected".

"FIFA banned rainbow captain's armbands and human rights flags in the stands, they blocked everyone, BUT NOT ME, like a Robin Hood," he wrote.

"SAVE UKRAINE. I spent a month in the war in Kyiv as a volunteer and saw how much those people are suffering," he wrote, calling for peace in the country heading into a tenth month of fighting after Moscow's invasion in February.

Defending Napoli

He added that "breaking the rules for a good cause is never a crime".

Gay rights and the use of the rainbow flag have been a simmering issue at the World Cup in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal. The rainbow