Basketball star Liz Cambage has doubled down after accusing the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) of “whitewashing” photos for the upcoming Tokyo Games, claiming she will not listen to opinions from white men on racial issues.
Earlier this week, Cambage vented her fury at the AOC and sportswear provider Jockey over a recent promotional photoshoot for the Summer Olympics, which she claimed wasn’t representative of Australia’s diversity.
Threatening to boycott Tokyo, the 29-year-old star fumed that the images were “whitewashed” and that “fake tan doesn't equal diversity” – a message which some took as a reference to the presence of Indigenous rugby player Maurice Longbottom in one of the images.
The outburst from Cambage – who claimed bronze with her country at the 2012 Games in London – prompted a contrite AOC to repent that they “should have better reflected the rich diversity of athletes who represent Australia at the Olympic Games.”
Others, however, accused underwear model Cambage of attention-seeking and kicking up a fuss about nothing.
“If she told me she was going to boycott I’d say, ‘Good luck, see you later’,” said former Australian women’s national team coach Tom Maher.
“There have been no bad intentions. Was there a homosexual athlete represented? Was there a Chinese Australian athlete mentioned? I mean, where does it end?” he added.
Also on rt.com Basketball star threatens Olympic boycott over ‘lack of diversity’ in team pics – then calls out Indigenous athlete for ‘fake tan’Cambage – who apologized to rugby player Longbottom in a message on Friday, claiming that she was not referring to him with her 'fake tan' comments – has now launched another fierce counter-invective at her critics.
In a message on Instagram Stories on Saturday, Cambage brought the camera increasingly close to her open mouth, sticking her tongue out and adding the caption: “I DO NOT CARE FOR A WHITE MAN’S OPINION ON RACIAL ISSUES. NEVER HAVE. NEVER WILL.”
With mentioning specific names, Cambage also wrote: “Especially when the comments come from one of the most abusive coaches I have ever had and past players no one cares about.”
In a further message for internet trolls, the Las Vegas Aces star told them to “keep the threats coming boys” along with a message noting that “the league has a cyber taskforce for stuff like this that tracks IP addresses.”
A three-time WNBA All-Star, Cambage is one of the most recognizable faces in the women’s game and has a sideline as a DJ and lingerie model.
Born in London to a Nigerian father and Australian mother, Cambage used a video last year to attack her fellow Aussies for supposedly ignoring problems in their country while discussing the killing of George Floyd in the US.