A group of players will boycott the decision to play that jacket for reasons of LGTBI + pride for personal and religious reasons.
Seven Australian rugby players will boycott for religious and personal reasons their team’s decision to wear rainbow shirts for a match for LGBTI+ pridehis coach reported Tuesday.
the team jersey Manly Sea Eagles, presented the previous day, has colors identifying the LGBTI community on the sleeve and around the body advertising; and will be used this Thursday in a match against the Sydney Rooster, both teams from Sydney.
“(They) won’t wear the shirt because it goes against their cultural and religious beliefs”, his coach, Des Hasler, said in a press conference, confirming that the rest of the players will wear the announced attire. The coach admitted that they did not consult the players about the use of this shirt, leaving the participation of seven athletes in suspense.
“The purpose of the t-shirt is to support advocacy and human rights related to gender, race, culture, ability and LGBTI movements. Unfortunately, the implementation of what was intended to be a very important initiative (.. .) is not good”declared the coach, when apologizing to the public.
A boycott in which even the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, spoke, recalling the importance of respecting “everyone for who they are” and that “sport is more inclusive”, in statements collected by the public network that ABC.
Albanese also praised his friend and former Eagles player Ian Roberts, who in 1995 became the first elite rugby league player to come out as gay. Roberts is not the first gay player, but “he was the first to have the courage to come out of the closet and that paved the way for others to do so”emphasis of the president.
“All love is equal”declared on Twitter the Minister for Sport, Anika Wells, when referring to the subject.
Stocks of the Sydney team’s rainbow-coloured jersey sold out in less than 24 hours on sale via the website, public broadcaster SBS said.
Source: Tycsports
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