Gay pride jersey leads to rugby player revolt
At least seven players from Australian National Rugby League (NRL) team the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles will boycott a pivotal upcoming match after the club announced they were to become the first team in the league history to wear a strip which promotes gay rights.
However, the move has sparked controversy among the club's players, several of whom have announced that they will refuse to wear the strip - which displays small 'rainbow' stripes - due to religious or moral grounds.
The team's coach, Des Hasler, has apologized for what he called the club's “significant mistake” in designing the jersey without first consulting the playing staff, but confirmed that his team will still wear the controversial outfit at Thursday's crucial game with the Sydney Roosters.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Hasler apologized to both the LGBT community and the players involved, adding that the situation had prompted “confusion, discomfort and pain for many people, in particular those groups whose human rights we were in fact attempting to support”.
“They were not included in any of the discussions, and at a minimum, they should have been consulted,” Hasler said of the club's several players who objected.
The players in questions have been identified as Josh Aloiai, Jason Saab, Christian Tuipulotu, Josh Schuster, Haumole Olakau'atu, Tolu Koula and Toafofoa Sipley.
However, critics of the various players' reactions have accused them of hypocrisy of the move, saying that they have no issue that the club has sponsorships from a gambling company and a brewery.
Ian Roberts, a former Manly player who became the first player in NRL history to come out as homosexual, said that the reaction of some players from his former team was disappointing.
“I thought the acknowledgement and the sincerity and authenticity was wonderful,” he said to ABC.
“I thought it was exceptional in explaining that the original Pride round was brought together with the right intention – a celebration for the community.
“I also would really like to acknowledge that he [Hasler] did the right thing in saying that they got a few things wrong – the ownership of that and how they would do things differently good given the opportunity again. I think that was very brave and forthright.
“But where do we go to from here? It is not the way we wanted this conversation to start but we are having the conversation now. I fully respect those players choosing not to play and their right not to play, their religious beliefs. I would love, given the opportunity, to sit around a table with those guys in the summer and have a conversation with them.”
Roberts also stated that he believes homophobia remains a significant problem within Australian sports.
Last year, a female AFL player refused to wear similarly-designed jersey due to religious reasons, while in 2015 former Australian rugby superstar Israel Folau was sacked by Rugby Australia for expressing homophobic sentiment online.
