More than 20 Uyghurs were among the spectators at the Uzbekistan-Congo match played in Atlanta, USA, and five East Turkestan flags were flown around the field.
The Uzbekistan team at this year's World Cup has attracted the attention and enthusiasm of Uyghurs around the world. On June 27, during the Uzbekistan-Congo match in Atlanta, USA, more than 20 Uyghurs were among the spectators, and five East Turkestan flags fluttered around the field.
Among those who waved this flag were Ms. Tumaris Alastair and her family, and Mr. Mamet Savat and his friends, who traveled 760 kilometers from Virginia, USA, to participate in the race.
Ms. Tumaris Alastan and Mr. Mamed Savat stated that Uzbeks are the closest ethnic and cultural people to Uyghurs, and therefore they cherish the honor of participating in the world competition, and therefore participated in the competition to support them and enjoy their achievements together. They also noted that one of their goals was to present the flag of East Turkestan to millions of viewers, especially to give the people of East Turkestan, who are deprived of the opportunity to see this flag, a chance to see it once.
At a certain point in the match, an argument broke out between the match security personnel and Ms. Tumaris; during the argument, the security personnel ordered Ms. Tumaris to hand over the flag or leave the field. Ms. Tumaris left the field instead of handing over the flag. Security personnel stated that flags inciting ethnic hatred against others were not allowed, but they could not explain why this flag was included in this category.
Mr. Farouk, a Uyghur spectator who watched the match, said that he and his son watched the match from start to finish with the blue flag draped over their shoulders and were not disturbed. He speculated that the flag held by Ms. Tumaris was relatively large and prominent, which attracted the attention and discomfort of the Chinese side; Chinese authorities who saw the blue flag on the screen or Chinese spectators in the stadium complained about the flag.
We wrote to the relevant competition authorities about the accuracy of this assumption, that is, the exact reason for Ms. Tumaris' obstruction, but our questions were not answered.
Ms. Tumaris emphasized that although the incident was heartbreaking for the children, the opportunity to wave the East Turkestan flag several times in front of millions of spectators was enough solace for them.
