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.”
GO DEEPER
‘We deserve our rights’: How LGBTQ+ fans feel about Rainbow Laces controversy
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
What to expect next from the Golden State Valkyries after WNBA expansion draft
The Golden State Valkyries have taken their first steps toward building a roster for their inaugural season in 2025, and Friday’s expansion draft suggests there will be significantly more turnover for them in the near future.
General manager Ohemaa Nyanin and head coach Natalie Nakase emphasized the competitiveness of the group they drafted, and combined with owner Joe Lacob’s goal of winning a title within five years, there is a desire to be good now. The consequence of selecting a group ready to contend in 2025 means that it’s difficult to see the long-term vision of this particular set of 11 players.
For starters, Golden State drafted a veteran-heavy group, as seven of its 11 picks are at least 27 years old, which was the average age across the WNBA in 2024. Two are signed through 2025 while the remainder are up for new contracts. That leaves the Valkyries at a bit of a disadvantage in roster-building for the future because they don’t have extended team control of those players.
Introducing your first-ever Golden State Valkyries. This is just the beginning of our journey.
Expansion Draft presented by @CarMax. pic.twitter.com/8WU5mOYGRy
— Golden State Valkyries (@wnbagoldenstate) December 7, 2024
That situation is partly out of Golden State’s control; only two veterans (i.e., players not on rookie contracts) league-wide are signed past the 2025 season as players seek to maintain their freedom before the implementation of a new collective bargaining agreement. But the Valkyries not only selected players who have short contracts, but also internationals who have had sporadic relationships with the WNBA.
Julie Vanloo was a 31-year-old rookie in 2024. Temi Fagbenle had a four-year gap from the WNBA from 2020 to 2023. Cecilia Zandalasini was out of the league for five years before returning to Minnesota this season. Iliana Rupert has missed two of the last four WNBA seasons due to national team commitments. Maria Conde has never played for the WNBA despite being drafted in 2019, and she told The Athletic that playing for Spain would always be her priority during the summer. Golden State is taking a risk that these players will be available and willing to play despite a track record that suggests otherwise.
The first question Nyanin addressed in her news conference Friday was about Conde, and Nyanin admitted that she does not know if the Spanish national will come stateside in 2025. Conversations are necessary with her, Carla Leite and the aforementioned European players, especially since EuroBasket starts on June 18, 2025, and lasts for two weeks. The Valkyries are mostly starting from scratch, too. For instance, when Zandalasini came back to the Lynx, it helped that Cheryl Reeve was still the coach. Other than Rupert and Nakase, who were both in Las Vegas in 2022, there aren’t many established relationships with these players.
“This entire process is complex, there’s a lot of unknown, and I will say that ad nauseam, unfortunately,” Nyanin said. “I’m looking at it from the human perspective, like what can we continue to express to these athletes that make them want to come and play in this Valkyrie violet and black and white.”
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Golden State also seemingly prioritized win-now players over younger ones who might take time to develop. Only one of their selections is under a rookie contract, and though Kate Martin projects to be a fine player, she doesn’t necessarily have star upside. The Valkyries likely could have taken swings on players such as Alissa Pili (Lynx), Shaneice Swain (Sparks draftee) or Han Xu (Liberty) but chose to take known quantities in Zandalasini, Stephanie Talbot (Sparks) and Kayla Thornton (Liberty). Washington likely had an even longer list of young players unprotected, and Golden State went with the 31-year-old Vanloo despite also drafting Veronica Burton (Wings) and Leite at point guard.
“These are players that are hungry. … They’re players that could have started on other teams,” Nakase said about their veterans. “I’m just really excited to give them the opportunity.”
These decisions make sense for the 2025 iteration of the Valkyries. Establishing a culture of competitiveness right away might be the most prudent move for an expansion team. Win now, develop a reputation and become an attractive free-agent destination. Golden State’s expansion selections are also high-character veterans who could be valuable recruiting tools during the offseason.
The Valkyries also aren’t bound to keep any of these players. They can assemble an entirely new roster in free agency. Thornton and Talbot are also on easily tradable contracts if another team is interested.
Regardless of what path Golden State pursues from here, it’s also true that the Valkyries punted on an opportunity to build for the future with younger players. They don’t have a deep pool of young talent from this draft. That doesn’t preclude long-term success, but it does mean the front office will have to keep turning over this roster, as veterans tend to move more frequently than players on rookie deals.
As a result, for all the excitement surrounding this crop of Golden State Valkyries, it would be surprising if the majority of them suited up on May 16. Setting aside the uncertainty regarding player availability, Golden State still needs to figure out a direction for its roster, which will require more maneuvering. The Valkyries have only just begun.
(Photo of Chiney Ogwumike and Natalie Nakase: Mike Rasay / NBAE via Getty Images)
Sports
Clemson's Dabo Swinney says SMU 'better be' in College Football Playoff after beating them in ACC title game
SMU came back from down 17 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough.
Clemson knocked a 56-yard field goal as time expired to earn a 34-31 victory in the ACC title game, earning an automatic bid into the College Football Playoff.
The Tigers were ranked 17th in the nation, so at least one team inside the top-12 is going to get the boot from the playoff.
SMU, ranked 8th in the nation entering the title game, now may just be on the outside looking in.
The Ponies’ fate is in the hands of the CFP committee, but if Dabo Swinney were on it, his decision would be clear.
“That’s a playoff team. SMU, they better be in that dang playoff,” he told ESPN on the field after the game.
“There’s no way they shouldn’t be in these playoffs.”
Swinney and Rhett Lashlee shared a long embrace at midfield upon the winning field goal going through the posts, and it’s hard to imagine Swinney did not share those sentiments with the SMU head coach.
NICK SABAN GIVES STERN OPINION ON FLAG-PLANTING AFTER RIVALRY WEEK MELEES: ‘UP TO EARS IN ELEPHANT S—T’
SMU tied the game with 16 seconds left after a 16-play drive, but Adam Randall returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards to their own 45. Cade Klubnik then found Antonio Williams for 17 yards, and the Tigers called a timeout, bringing out Nolan Hauser, who drilled the 56-yarder with plenty to spare.
Clemson and Arizona State will be in contention for the final bye into the quarterfinals – the Sun Devils walloped Iowa State in the Big 12 championship on Saturday afternoon.
Of course, the committee decided to move to 12 teams in order for there to be more room for error; given the controversy of leaving out Florida State last year, who would have thought this would still be difficult?
The entire field will be announced on Sunday at 12 p.m. ET.
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Sports
Pick-six helps Palos Verdes beat Bakersfield Christian in Division 2-A bowl game
Jace DeMoss picked the perfect time for his first interception of the season, returning it 65 yards for a touchdown with 2:09 left to clinch Palos Verdes’ 28-10 triumph over Bakersfield Christian in Saturday night’s Southern California Regional Division 2-A bowl game at South Torrance High.
The Sea Kings (10-5) will play undefeated NorCal winner Twelve Bridges in the CIF 2-A state bowl championship at 11:30 a.m. next Saturday at Saddleback College. It is Palos Verdes’ first trip to a state bowl.
“I saw the quarterback drop back, I just faded back into coverage and the ball came to me,” said DeMoss, a junior who also plays H-back. “I saw a receiver in front of me and cut up the field behind him.”
Sophomore quarterback Ryan Rakowksi ran for 97 yards on 12 carries and completed six of 11 throws for 49 yards, making key plays to move the chains.
“He’s elusive, he makes really good decisions and he’s our leader,” DeMoss said of his signal-caller. “We knew with the team we had, it was possible to go far. I play more on offense, but I enjoy defense — it’s more challenging and more creative.”
Rakowski completed a 13-play, 67-yard drive with a one-yard run, and Dylan Freebury’s extra point gave the Sea Kings a 7-0 lead with 4:25 left in the first quarter.
Bakersfield Christian (11-3) answered with an eight-play, 80-yard march capped by Ethan Eckles’ 24-yard score on a fourth-down screen pass from Lincoln Adame with 1:10 left in the quarter.
The teams traded punts for the remainder of the first half until Adame connected with Andre Calderon on a 40-yard pass play to set up a season-high 47-yard field goal by Cohen Peters with 23 seconds left in the second quarter to put the visiting Eagles up 10-7 at halftime.
Rakowski bounced off several tacklers like a pinball and raced 31 yards down the sideline on Palos Verdes’ first drive of the second half, and the Sea Kings regained the lead, 14-10.
After stopping Bakersfield on fourth down, Palos Verdes drove 54 yards in seven plays, scoring on Andrew Habif’s nine-yard rush to widen the lead to 21-10 with 8:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Habif finished with 102 yards on 20 carries.
Palos Verdes beat La Serna 23-7 last Saturday to win the Southern Section Division 5 title, with Rakowski rushing for two touchdowns and Camren Hughes intercepting two passes, one for an 80-yard touchdown. The Sea Kings have won six straight since their 37-3 loss to Inglewood.
Twenty-five players graduated from last year’s squad, which went 10-0 in the regular season, was the Bay League champion and lost 59-35 to Mission Viejo in the Southern Section Division 2 first round. Rakowski threw for 23 touchdowns last year and has passed for 18 more this fall.
Adame threw for 200 yards and Calderon had four catches for 75 yards for the Eagles, who were shut out in the second half.
“Our defense is built around physicality,” DeMoss said.
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