During the Cricket World Cup 2023 final in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium, a fan breached security in an attempt to hug Virat Kohli. The fan, Wen Johnson, was wearing a face mask with a Palestine flag design and a T-shirt with pro-Palestine slogans. He was detained by security officials and handed over to the crime branch.
JCP Cime Neeraj Kumar Badgujar revealed the detailed identity of the person and mentioned that Johnson has a history of intruding sports events.
According to inspector Viraj Jadeja, the Australian national was detained and booked for trespassing and obstructing public servants in discharge of duty.
The ICC prohibits political sloganeering during cricket events, and such acts are not allowed in India. It was reported that Johnson is a habitual offender and has been booked for similar incidents in the past.
Johnson expressed his intention to meet Kohli and claimed that he wore the pro-Palestine T-shirt for show, stating that his main aim was to meet Kohli. He has previously invaded fields during football games and shared videos and photos on his Instagram handle.
Johnson put on a normal T-shirt over the one with pro-Palestine slogans to enter the stadium and removed the outer T-shirt before running towards Kohli, who was batting at that time.
When questioned about his motives, Johnson stated that he wanted to meet Kohli and showed support for Palestine with the slogans on his T-shirt.
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine group Hamas was also mentioned in connection with the incident.
With PTI inputs
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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