World Cup protesters learn their fate in Russian court
MOSCOW -- The four protesters who barged onto the field at the World Cup final in Moscow have been sentenced to 15 days in jail. The protesters, members of the Pussy Riot punk collective, ran onto the pitch at Luzhniki Stadium dressed as police officers during the second half of Sunday's match between France and Croatia.
They called for the release of political prisoners and for more open political competition.
A court on Monday sentenced them after finding them guilty of violating the law on behavior of sports events spectators. They were also banned from attending sports events for three years.
Croatia defender Dejan Lovren pushed one of the protesters Sunday, helping a steward to detain him. He later suggested the incident put Croatia off its game. The team was down 2-1 when the protest happened, and eventually lost 4-2.
"I really was mad because we'd been playing at that moment in good shape," he said. "We'd been playing good football and then some interruption came. I just lost my head and I grabbed the guy and I wished I could throw him away from the stadium."
Before being hauled away, one of the women reached the center of the field and shared a double high-five with France forward Kylian Mbappe.
