Anti-Putin protest interrupts Women’s World Cup final

A pitch invader displaying a political message disrupted the Women’s World Cup final

(REUTERS)

A pitch invader forced a delay in the Women’s World Cup final during the first half.

The game had been going on for 26 minutes when a man wearing a mask and with a political message on his shirt entered the field of play.

The man got close to England international Lauren Hemp before being rugby-tackled by stewards.

The man had a t-shirt on with a message saying ‘stop Putler’ likening Russian president Vladimir Putin to former German dictator Adolf Hitler.

The back of the shirt had a Ukraine flag and read ‘free Ukraine’.

There was a short delay in the game as England waited to take a free-kick but it was dealt with swiftly by the stewards who escored the man off the field and the game was able to get back underway.