Sports
Premier League Rainbow Laces campaign explained: What is it and what has sparked controversy?
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”.
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.
“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.”
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)
Sports
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is sneakily becoming an all-time NBA scorer
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander puts a lot of effort into his appearance. Fashion is a clear passion. His postgame news conferences double as video shorts for Harper’s Bazaar.
I am impressed by a player who can pull off something shimmery or wear fur up to his chin while sporting a do-rag and dark sunglasses. Far be it for me to pose as a fashion critic. This is not an assessment of whether he pulls it off, though I’d say he absolutely does. I dress like a journalist styled by deadlines concerned only with a nice pair of sneakers and something that disguises the coffee I’m sure to spill on my hoodie. My fashion critiques are useless.
But the SGA off the court and the version of him in the Oklahoma City Thunder uniform represent a striking juxtaposition. The former tries really hard to be stunning. The latter makes it look so effortless.
Gilgeous-Alexander is not just an elite scorer; he’s so, so smooth with it. Watching him get buckets is almost therapeutic. Right before our eyes, he’s blossomed into a historic scoring machine. His handle is silkier than one of his half-buttoned shirts. He doesn’t wow you with dribble moves, but he handles the rock so fluidly. His moves and counters. The improvisational way he manipulates leverage and shifts into spaces. And it’s all punctuated with a midrange jumper that ol’ heads would call butter.
SGA is one to watch as the NBA Cup transitions to the quarterfinals. One of the benefits of this in-season tournament — and the hype surrounding it — is gems like Gilgeous-Alexander get to shine. In a league that loves showcasing its prolific offensive players, he is unique among the game’s best.
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A big game from Giannis Antetokounmpo is like a muscle car with Flowmasters roaring through a school zone. Nothing about Jayson Tatum’s scoring looks easy.
Ever see Luka Dončić go off? It’s spectacular. But he makes it look so laborious. You need a cigarette and a cold one afterward just from watching.
Anthony Edwards is simply exciting. He’s all flair. As is Nikola Jokić. Even though Joker is smooth in his own right, it just has the subtlety of an elephant C-walking to “Not Like Us.” His version of smoothness is seizing.
SGA sneaks up on you. He just goes to work, and you look up and he’s got 30 again. Like he rolls out of bed to 20 points.
He’s the new Kevin Durant in that sense. You know how KD makes putting the ball in the basket feel like breathing? How it feels so automatic as to be inevitable? SGA is of that ilk. Smooth for no reason. He scores like cats walk. Like Les Twins dance. Like Penelope Cruz says “Nespresso.”
Gilgeous-Alexander already is on pace for a third season averaging 30 points per game or more. If he does, he’d be one of 16 players in NBA history to average 30 or more three times. (Giannis also is on pace for his third such season.) Only 23 players have multiple seasons averaging 30-plus.
Even SGA’s free-throw grifting is slick. He’s fourth in attempts this season, behind Giannis, Anthony Davis and James Harden.
SGA often looks unstoppable. Yet, his career-high is only 45. This is his seventh season, and he’s scored 40 or more only 14 times.
His modus operandi isn’t especially explosive. He doesn’t often get hot and go wild. He’s not one for superb peaks and periodic valleys.
Gilgeous-Alexander is just at the same level. Perennially. Humbly, even. Cooking defenses like it’s a 9-to-5. Over the last two-plus seasons, totaling 164 games, he has just 10 games where he’s failed to score 20.
Not too high. Not too low. Just in the same groove. Unimpeded by smaller defenders or bigger ones, quicker ones or stronger ones. At 6-foot-6, he has just enough athleticism and strength and leaping ability to counter just about any defense.
If SGA continues at this current pace, he will be the 10th player to average 30 in three straight seasons. The other nine: Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor, Adrian Dantley, Bob McAdoo, James Harden and Joel Embiid. Yes, Gilgeous-Alexander is already among the upper echelon of bucket-getters.
Durant has only averaged 30 twice. Same for Stephen Curry, Rick Barry and George Gervin, among others.
What’s even rarer about SGA is his road to success. He’s become this unstoppable scorer despite not entering the NBA as such. He averaged 14.4 points his one season at Kentucky and was drafted two picks after college teammate Kevin Knox.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 10.8 points as a rookie despite 73 starts. That puts him in another rare group along with Giannis, Kobe Bryant and Harden. They are the four players in NBA history who have averaged 30 points in a season after averaging fewer than 11 points as a rookie.
Most of the NBA’s great single-season scorers came into the league getting buckets. Of the 37 players all-time who have averaged 30 points in a season, 16 of them averaged at least 20 points as rookies. Another nine averaged at least 15.
Most of the bunch were scorers from the beginning of their careers, better than two-thirds. They announced themselves early. You knew what they were in the league to do.
SGA kinda sneaked up on us. Slithered into rarified air. Most had never heard of him until he was the key piece in a massive deal for Paul George. Now at 26, he’s already a more accomplished offensive weapon than PG.
And SGA’s 3-ball isn’t refined yet. He shot 40.4 percent in college but is hitting just 34.8 percent over his pro career. He’s got the form and the touch. It figures to get to where he’s knocking down the 3 at a higher clip.
Could he be the next 30,000-point scorer? He’ll pass 10,000 this season. He could be at 20,000 by year No. 12. The pace tracks.
Sure, Gilgeous-Alexander defends and passes, and he is growing as a leader. But, man, just watch him work on offense. With the ball in his hands, anywhere near the free-throw line and the defender at his mercy, peep the rhythm of his flow. The simplicity of his jumper. The reliability of its conversion. The matter-of-factness in his demeanor. The fashion in which he dominates.
The fur coat and do-rag are but accessories.
(Top photo: Joshua Gateley / Getty Images)
Sports
Travis Kelce bristles at watching Taylor Swift Christmas movie favorite: 'Don’t f—ing torture me'
Travis Kelce may be dating the most famous woman in the world in Taylor Swift, but it does not appear their relationship of more than a year has changed him too much.
Kylie Kelce, Jason Kelce’s wife, called into the “New Heights” hotline during their latest episode on Wednesday. She wanted to nominate a movie for the next movie review and proposed the idea of Travis and Jason watching the movie “Love Actually” this Christmas season – a notable Taylor Swift favorite.
“‘Love Actually’ is a tremendous movie that you can really sit down with your significant others and enjoy because it’s not like one of your significant others hasn’t asked you to watch it multiple times and you said no every time,” she said, apparently referring to her husband. “So, this would be a great excuse to get you to watch it. OK, I hope you take this into consideration.”
Travis appeared to be looking up the movie while Kylie’s voice played.
“I think we both can probably agree we’re not doing ‘Love Actually,’” Jason said.
“Yeah, probably not,” Travis agreed. “I’ll do, like, a really good Christmas movie though.”
When Kylie said she would come on if they reviewed “Love Actually,” Travis did not think it would change anything about how they felt. Jason suggested he go on Kylie’s new podcast “Not Gonna Lie” and do the review.
TAYLOR SWIFT’S BOYFRIEND TRAVIS KELCE PRESSURED TO PROPOSE AFTER JOSH ALLEN GETS ENGAGED TO HAILEE STEINFELD
“Yeah, don’t f—ing torture me. Torture your husband,” Travis said. “I’m an innocent bystander here, Ky. Don’t f—ing come for me.”
Travis said coming to know Hugh Grant, one of the stars of the film, has made some of his movies more enjoyable. Travis also made sure to say he didn’t say he “wouldn’t enjoy ‘Love Actually’” he just didn’t want to review it.
Swift is a fan of the Grant, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley Christmas classic. She told Teen Vogue, “Did you ever watch the movie ‘Love Actually’ where Hugh Grant’s voiceover says, ‘If you look around, love actually is all around?’ That’s my favorite motto.”
Kylie echoed Swift about 10 years later.
Jason and Travis then agreed they would review “Love Actually” after some pressure from their producer as well as a movie the fans of the show picked out.
Jason did make clear that he did not want anyone to submit “Die Hard” as a Christmas movie to review. He declared the Bruce Willis action thriller was “not a Christmas movie.”
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Sports
Lawmakers, labor group push to protect NIL payouts from NCAA settlement deal
Two California lawmakers are pushing back against the idea that the proposed House settlement with the NCAA could restrict athletes from within the state receiving the unfettered access to name, image and likeness compensation to which they are entitled by law.
State Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) and Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Gardena) were among a group of lawmakers who issued a statement Thursday saying state law should supersede any edict in a proposed settlement that would prohibit universities from complying with NCAA and conference NIL rules.
“Terms in the preliminary settlement in House vs. NCAA attempt to allow the NCAA and conferences to restrict our college athletes’ freedom to earn NIL compensation from boosters and NIL collectives, for example,” Skinner and Bradford said in a joint statement with Nebraska state Sen. Megan Hunt and Oregon state Sen. James Manning Jr. “However, this and other restrictions are illegal in our respective state.”
As part of the proposed House settlement, athletes would no longer receive compensation from NIL collectives, cutting off a massive stream of revenue. According to Opendorse, NIL compensation from collectives was expected to represent 82% of the estimated $1.6 billion in NIL compensation paid to athletes in 2024.
Lawmakers pointed out in their statement that California law forbids universities from prohibiting NIL compensation paid by athletic boosters and NIL collectives to athletes; from complying with or enforcing any conference or NCAA rules that restrict or prohibit NIL compensation paid by athletic boosters and NIL collectives to athletes; and from prohibiting conferences and the NCAA from restricting athletes’ NIL freedoms and compensation.
The lawmakers added that their respective states were not a party to the lawsuit and any settlement would not impact their states’ ability to enforce individual NIL laws. California is one of 17 states that prohibits restrictions on athletes’ NIL compensation and one of at least four states that allows universities to pay NIL compensation directly to athletes.
Ramogi Huma, a former UCLA linebacker and the executive director of the National College Players Assn., said he did not expect any universities to comply with House settlement restrictions on NIL because doing so would put them at a competitive disadvantage.
Even if the House settlement is denied, Huma said, college athletes in California should expect to receive direct pay from their schools because of state law. Huma said the NCPA was in the process of helping lawmakers in other states prepare similar legislation that would allow their universities to participate in NIL-based revenue sharing.
Since UCLA and USC will soon have a deluge of revenue from the Big Ten and College Football Playoff at their disposal to pay NIL compensation to their athletes, Huma said, other states are likely to adopt similar NIL laws to allow similar distributions.
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