A Moscow court on Monday morning sentenced the four members of the controversial punk group, Pussy Riot for invading the pitch of the World Cup final between France and Croatia while the match was on on Sunday.

According to a statement released by the Kremlin after a court in Moscow handed down the sentence, the pitch invasion was a political statement by the band in response to the current climate in Russia.

The group made up of Veronika Nikulshina, Olga Pakhtusova, Olga Kurachova and Pyotr Verzilov have also confirmed on Twitter that they would serve 15 days of administrative arrest in a special prison.

The group was also banned from attending sports events for three years.

Speaking about the incident, Nikulshina said: “It was a statement about the situation in the country which we disagree with. I wanted to show my disagreement with the actions of the law enforcement agencies.”