The Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign, an annual show of support for the LGBTQ+ community, has been overshadowed this week.

Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy twice refused to wear the accompanying rainbow armband in games, citing his religious beliefs, while Crystal Palace skipper Marc Guehi chose to write two pro-Christian messages on the armbands he’s worn in their past two matches.

The Athletic also reported on Wednesday morning that Manchester United abandoned plans to wear rainbow-themed Adidas warm-up jackets ahead of Sunday’s 4-0 win over Everton after defender Noussair Mazraoui refused to join the initiative. The Morocco international, like Morsy, pointed to his Muslim faith as the reason for his reluctance.

A well-intended campaign from the Premier League has found itself at the heart of a wider, divisive debate but one that is not unique to English football. 

The Athletic analyses the origins of rainbow laces and whether the initiative can retain a place in the game’s calendar. 

What is the Rainbow Laces campaign and why was it introduced?

The campaign dates back to 2013 when Stonewall, the LGBTQ+ charity, initially teamed up with UK bookmaker Paddy Power to send rainbow-coloured laces to all professional footballers across England and Scotland.

Players were encouraged to show their support for LGBTQ+ communities by wearing them and its success led to the Premier League formally partnering with Stonewall in an attempt to improve inclusivity across the top level of English football. A report released by Stonewall last month showed that one in four LGBTQ+ people still did not feel welcome at live sporting events.

It has become customary for the Premier League to allot two matchweeks to the Rainbow Laces campaign every season, presenting all 20 clubs with the opportunity to mark the event with a home fixture. The Premier League distributes rainbow-branded corner flags, ball plinths, handshake boards and substitution boards to its clubs, as well as the laces and captain’s armbands.

The wider period, this season running between November 29 and December 5, also sees clubs encouraged to highlight the work they do to “embed equality, diversity and inclusion”.

That typically includes content with managers, players and supporters to celebrate LGBTQ+ communities. One example this year was Southampton and England goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale speaking out on the challenges faced by his brother, Oliver, who is openly gay.

Why has it proved a talking point this year?

Morsy’s decision not to wear a rainbow armband for Ipswich’s 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday made him the only one of 20 captains in the Premier League not to do so. A club statement, released on Monday, confirmed the “religious beliefs” of Morsy, a Muslim, had been behind the step, with Ipswich saying they would “respect” the midfielder’s actions.

Also on Saturday, Guehi, a devout Christian, wore the rainbow armband in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle United after having written ”I (heart) Jesus” across it. Doing so contravened the Football Association’s rules banning any religious messaging being carried on playing kits.

By chance, Morsy and Guehi were on opposing teams on Tuesday night as Palace won 1-0 away to Ipswich. Morsy again chose not to wear the rainbow armband, while Guehi had changed the written message on his to “Jesus (heart) you”.

Marc Guehi and Sam Morsy both made their own statements around the Rainbow Laces campaign (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Speaking to Sky Sports on Wednesday, Guehi explained his thinking behind writing the messages.

“I think the message was pretty clear, to be honest,” he said. “It’s a message of love and truth as well and a message of inclusivity, so it speaks for itself.”

On Wednesday, The Athletic revealed United’s plan to wear rainbow-themed warm-up jackets ahead of Sunday’s game with Everton was scrapped due to Mazraoui, who is Muslim, refusing to take part.

Is this the first time it has provoked controversy?

This is the second year that a Premier League side’s captain has opted against wearing the rainbow armband, after Sheffield United’s Anel Ahmedhodzic, the Bosnia and Herzegovina international defender, did so last December.

Ahmedhodzic, a Muslim, wore the standard Premier League armband for a 2-0 defeat at home to Liverpool, in what was his first game as the team’s captain. Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder told reporters after the game that he had been unaware of Ahmedhodzic’s decision, and when asked by Swedish outlet SVT Sport why he had chosen not to have a rainbow armband, the defender answered, “Guess.”

Are players allowed to not wear a rainbow armband or laces?

Neither the laces nor the armband are considered compulsory but there has been an unwritten expectation that all players help promote the campaign. No Premier League captain, until Ahmedhodzic did so, had shown any resistance to the pro-LGBTQ+ messaging.

What are the rules around footballers promoting political symbols or messages on their kits?

Doing that, in short, is prohibited by the FA, who have specific kit requirements for players at all levels of English football. “Equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images,” it outlines under Law 4.

The theory is that football, and a player’s kit, should not be used for the promotion of any beliefs, ensuring religion and politics are kept at a distance.

Those lines, though, can be blurred.

The annual poppy appeal, raising money for veterans of Britain’s armed forces, sees clubs carry the charity’s logo on their kits but James McClean, now of Wrexham in League One, has long considered it a political symbol and refused to commemorate the occasion, owing to his roots as a Catholic growing up in Northern Ireland.

McClean stands away from his Wrexham team-mates during the Remembrance Day minute’s silence in November (Gary Oakley/PA Images via Getty Images)

“The poppy represents, for me, an entire different meaning to what it does for others,” McClean posted on Instagram in November. “Am I offended by someone wearing a poppy? No, absolutely not, what does offend me though, is having the poppy… forced upon me.”

The same stance was adopted by Nemanja Matic as a Manchester United player, because of Britain’s historic involvement in a military campaign in his homeland of Serbia.

It’s not just players either. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was fined £20,000 by the FA in 2018 for wearing a yellow ribbon — a symbol of solidarity with members of the independence movement in the Spanish region of Catalonia, where Guardiola is from, who had been arrested by Spain’s authorities — during an FA Cup tie against Wigan Athletic.

What has been the response of the football governing bodies and LGBTQ rights groups?

The FA has been in contact with Palace since Guehi wore his modified rainbow armband to remind them of the kit regulations, but no formal action will follow. Palace manager Oliver Glasner told reporters on Tuesday night he had spoken with Guehi ahead of the Ipswich game. “He’s no child. He’s an adult and he has an opinion,” said Glasner. “We respect that, and accept every opinion.”

Though the FA and Premier League are yet to make any formal comments on Morsy refusing to wear a rainbow armband or Guehi’s messaging, Stonewall released their own statement this week. “It has been incredible to see so many football teams at all levels support our Rainbow Laces campaign to make sport safer and more inclusive for all. When clubs like Ipswich Town FC show their support, it helps people feel safe and welcome both on and off the pitch,” a spokesperson said. “It is up to individuals to choose if and how they show their support for LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport.”

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Is the campaign likely to keep going?

There is no indication the actions of Morsy and Guehi, or the events at Manchester United, will lead to any changes in the Premier League’s allyship with Stonewall. It has been a long-running partnership designed to welcome LGBTQ+ communities and heighten inclusivity and the resistance to the campaign has been nominal.

Ahead of this year’s event, the league’s chief executive Richard Masters suggested it remained a long-term commitment.

“There has been considerable progress to make football a more inclusive environment for the LGBTQ+ community since the Rainbow Laces campaign launched a decade ago,” Masters said. “We are determined to maintain this momentum to make sure football is welcoming for everyone and send a clear message that discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated.”

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium lit up in rainbow colours in support of the initiative (Getty Images)

Are there equivalent campaigns in other sports?

The Rainbow Laces campaign is not confined to football in England, with Stonewall saying “over a million” people have participated since its launch 11 years ago, including elite athletes from the worlds of rugby union, rugby league and cricket.

Other countries have adopted similar initiatives and, like the Premier League, run into problems.

Clubs from French football’s top divisions wear shirts carrying rainbow colours once a season to promote LGBTQ+ causes, leading some players to make themselves unavailable for that round of games.

Midfielder Idrissa Gueye, now in the Premier League with Everton, was twice left out of Paris Saint-Germain squads after refusing to wear the modified shirt. Mauricio Pochettino, the club’s manager at the time, said in 2022 that Gueye had missed one particular match for “personal reasons” and there was support from Cheikhou Kouyate of Palace and Watford’s Ismaila Sarr (now a Palace player himself) on social media. All three play at international level for Senegal, where homosexuality is illegal.

Toulouse and Morocco forward Zakaria Aboukhlal also decided not to appear for his French club in 2023 when rainbow kits marked the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia. Monaco and Mali midfielder Mohamed Camara was handed a four-match ban at the end of last season after covering up an anti-homophobia message on his shirt during a match in Ligue 1, the top division of club football in France. Amelie Oudea-Castera, the country’s sports minister, called Camara’s actions “unacceptable behaviour.”

The rainbow colours also created an issue in the NHL, North America’s top ice hockey league, last year. The NHL reversed a ban on players wrapping multi-coloured ‘Pride’ tape around their hockey sticks in support of LGBTQ+ communities.

(Top photo: Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)

Multiple women’s golfers came forward to praise and celebrate the LPGA’s rule change on Wednesday that bars post-pubescent males from competing against females in pro competition. 

The organization said in a news release that male players who have gone through male puberty are barred from competing in the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour and all other elite LPGA competitions. The new rule will go into effect for the 2025 season. 

“Players assigned male at birth and who have gone through male puberty are not eligible to compete in the aforementioned events,” the organization said. “The policies governing the LPGA’s recreational programs and non-elite events utilize different criteria to provide opportunities for participation in the broader LPGA community.”

The International Women’s Forum (IWF) released a press release in which several women golfers spoke in favor of the ruling later on Wednesday. These golfers include Lauren Miller, Hannah Arnold, Dana Fall, and Amy Olson.

Miller said that she and female colleagues in pro golf have said “no more” to the issues of competing against biological males with the statement.

“This announcement from the LPGA and USGA gives me hope for the future of women’s golf,” Miller said. “The movement of female professional golfers was essential and has been heard — we’ve stood up and said, ‘No more’. By acknowledging the distinctions between men and women, golf leadership is uniting with us in their desire to champion women and girls by restoring a space that prioritizes fair competition. Today, women have won.”

Olson, meanwhile, insisted that the biological differences between men and women should be acknowledged in sports. 

“This is a positive step forward, recognizing that an individual’s chromosomes affect their physical development in ways that are irreversible,” Olson said. 

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Amy Olson of the United States hits a tee shot on the 16th hole during the first round of the Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give at Blythefield Country Club on June 15, 2023 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. (Raj Mehta/Getty Images)

Fall said that Wednesday’s announcement indicates that “women do matter” in sports. 

“Today’s policy announcement is a huge win for women and girls in sports. The LPGA and USGA, the premiere bodies which dictate the rules of women’s golf, are standing up for fairness and the integrity of our sport. Today, the message sent to women is that we do matter, and they are working to return equal opportunity and protect fair sport for female athletes,” Fall said. 

Still, the announcement was not meant with unanimous praise. Liberals and trans rights activists have criticized the new rule. 

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson spoke out against the new rule, as it will likely prevent Davidson from competing in the LPGA moving forward. 

“Can’t say I didn’t see this coming. Banned from the Epson and LPGA,” Davidson wrote in an Instagram Stories post. “All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.

“And somehow people are surprised the suicide rate for transgender people is around 50%. Situations just like this are part of the reason.”

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson looks after shot at pre-qualifying stage of LPGA Q-Series. (Riley Gaines/X)

A female golfer who competed against Davidson, Olivia Schmidt, made a plea to the LPGA to ban trans athletes like Davidson during an appearance at the Independent Women’s Forum in November. 

“The bottom line is we can fight this all we want, but the true change comes from the LPGA. They are the only ones with the power to stop it. It’s up to them to protect us,” she said. 

“I want my kids one day to chase their dreams and not have these distractions in their way. I’m just praying that [the policy] gets changed, and I’m praying that we can find a way to kind of find some common ground in that and hopefully for the next generation of golfers.”

Now, the LPGA has fulfilled that wish for all of its female competitors and fans. 

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The champagne hadn’t even dried after the New York Liberty won the WNBA championship when the players association announced it would opt out of the league’s collective bargaining agreement, which was set to expire in 2027.

A dramatic increase in revenues due primarily to the emergence of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and other marquee rookies prompted the players to recognize they aren’t getting what they believe to be a fair share. The CBA now ends after the 2025 season, blowing up a pay scale that set average salaries at about $120,000, with rookie minimums at $64,154 and veteran maximums at $241,984.

Clark’s four-year rookie contract under the CBA was for $338,056 — including $76,535 in 2024 — laughably low numbers given the revenue she helped generate. Clark broke almost every WNBA rookie record, but more impressive was her off-the-court impact.

“The numbers are so staggering,” said Ryan Brewer, associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, who was asked by the Indianapolis Star to put a price tag on Clark. “They don’t even seem real.”

The numbers, as crunched by Brewer:

• Clark was responsible for 26.5% of WNBA economic activity for the 2024 season, including attendance, merchandise sales and television. One of every six tickets sold at a WNBA arena can be attributed to Clark.
• Total WNBA TV viewership due to Clark is up 300%, and 45% of total broadcast value came from Fever games.
• WNBA merchandise sales rose 500%, with Clark ranking No. 1 followed by Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese.
• The Fever’s regular-season attendance averaged a record 17,036 per game, and the team’s total attendance of 340,715 also was a record.
• Clark’s regular-season games were watched by 1.2 million viewers on average, which was 200% more than games in which she didn’t play.

No wonder the players opted out of the current CBA, with the Women’s National Basketball Players Assn. stating its position succinctly with a video to X that proclaimed, “It’s business. We’re out.”

The WNBA signed a new media rights deal in July worth a reported $200 million a year, more than three times the current package. However, a question that will be raised during CBA negotiations is whether the surge in fan interest and revenue will continue or abate over time.

That’s why the WNBA media rights deal pales in comparison to the NBA’s new TV agreement with Disney (ABC and ESPN), Comcast (NBC and Peacock) and Amazon (Prime Video). Those outlets will air the league’s nationally televised games for 11 seasons beginning in 2025-26 and the NBA will be paid about $76 billion.

“As this continues to materialize, the corporate side, the business side, not the players union, but the other sides, are going to continue to watch to see that these numbers can stabilize and maintain rather than just spike and drop again,” Brewer said. “That’s what they’re afraid of. And that’s what’s keeping the numbers low.”

Clark, meanwhile, is doing quite well financially despite her low salary. Sportico on Wednesday published a list of the highest paid female athletes, and Clark was ranked No. 10, just behind Simone Biles. Clark, the only basketball player on the list, earned $11.1 million in 2024. (On top of the list for the second year in a row was tennis star Coco Gauff, who made $30.4 million in prize money and endorsements.)

Endorsements make up the bulk of Clark’s income. She gets $3.5 million a year from an eight-year contract with Nike and also has deals with Gatorade, Gainbridge, Hyvee, Xfinity, Wilson, Buick and State Farm Insurance.

WNBA star Caitlin Clark is introduced to fans Saturday during an NBA game between the Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors in Phoenix.

(Rick Scuteri / Associated Press)

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Most WNBA players, of course, have only a small fraction of that sort of endorsement income. They must rely on their salaries, which many supplement by playing overseas during the WNBA offseason.

Only 9.3% of league revenues of $200 million in 2024 went to player salaries, according to Bloomberg. That’s less than $20 million. Meanwhile, NBA players share 50% of their league revenue, which in 2023 meant $5.3 billion of $10.6 billion.

Few argue against a larger slice of WNBA revenues going toward player salaries, and precise numbers will be hammered out in CBA negotiations a year from now. Until then, the best evidence players can point to would be continued growth in attendance, TV viewership and merchandise sales.

And Clark’s contribution undoubtedly will remain a major factor.