English LGBTQI+ group Three Lions Pride say their rainbow flag was confiscated at England's second pool stage match against Panama in Nizhny Novgorod.
Under Russian law, it is illegal to show rainbow flags in public, but exemptions have been made for the tournament so rainbow flags could be displayed at matches.
The Three Lions Pride coordinator and gay rights campaigner Di Cunningham says she and her travelling companions went to the bar at the stadium to purchase a beverage when their friends at the venue texted to say the rainbow flag banner had been taken down.
“So I asked the supervisor why the banner had gone and he said those colours are not allowed in the stadium,” Ms Cunningham said.
She then texted a FIFA official whose contact she’d been given earlier in the group's Russia tour.
Ms Cunningham says about 20 minutes later, the supervisor returned with the flag and permitted Three Lions Pride to erect it once again.
“I’m hoping they’re wondering, and other people around them are wondering, why can that be shown in a stadium in Russia but not in the street,” she said.
But Russian gay rights activists aren’t confident the change in attitude from the authorities will last beyond the World Cup.
