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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‘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
Ranking 134 college football teams after conference title games: Boise State’s climb continues
Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.
The first year of the 12-team College Football Playoff was an absolute success.
Regardless of how the bracket plays out, it has already accomplished exactly what it was supposed to do. More regular-season games had more stakes. New faces made the field. The first-round games on campus will be electric. And the field appears wide open. It’s everything we wanted. Good job, everyone.
As for the bracket makeup itself, I don’t necessarily agree with every seed, but the committee got the right group. SMU was the correct decision over Alabama, at least in the current system where conference championships remain very important. Alabama’s wins were better, but its losses were worse. In the end, pulling a championship game loser out in favor of a three-loss team with bad losses would have upended the point of conference races. It was a close call. It was the right call.
Coming off conference championship weekend and ahead of the postseason, there was a shakeup at the top of this week’s penultimate edition of the Athletic 134.
GO DEEPER
College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Who are the national championship favorites?
1-10
My philosophy is to reward conference championship game winners and not ding the losers too much, except when they play each other. As a result, I have the same top seven as the committee. I said a week ago that a strong performance against Oregon would move Penn State above Notre Dame, and that’s what the Nittany Lions delivered in a 45-37 loss. Georgia’s second win against Texas jumped the Bulldogs up to No. 2, but I can’t drop the Longhorns much for an overtime loss.
The bottom end of the top 10 is different from the committee’s choices. Boise State and Arizona State move up to No. 8 and No. 9 with dominant championship wins against top-25 teams. SMU fell to No. 10 as a result of its loss to Clemson, but only because it was jumped by two other teams that played. While Arizona State has a blowout win against a Wyoming team that gave Boise State problems, the Sun Devils’ two regular season losses, compared to Boise State’s one last-second loss at No. 1 Oregon, keeps the Broncos ahead.
GO DEEPER
In defense of the College Football Playoff’s funky seeding format
11-25
Rank | Team | Record | Prev |
---|---|---|---|
11 |
11-1 |
9 |
|
12 |
9-3 |
11 |
|
13 |
10-2 |
13 |
|
14 |
9-3 |
14 |
|
15 |
9-3 |
15 |
|
16 |
10-3 |
25 |
|
17 |
10-2 |
16 |
|
18 |
9-3 |
17 |
|
19 |
9-3 |
18 |
|
20 |
10-3 |
19 |
|
21 |
9-3 |
20 |
|
22 |
11-1 |
28 |
|
23 |
9-3 |
21 |
|
24 |
10-3 |
22 |
|
25 |
10-2 |
23 |
Like SMU, Indiana fell back two places because it was jumped by two teams that had lopsided wins against top-25 opponents. Indiana has no such wins. The Hoosiers are still in my field, but their lack of quality wins left them open to getting jumped. Alabama remains the last team out of my 12-team CFP field.
Clemson moves up to No. 16 with its last-second win against SMU, but the Tigers stay behind South Carolina because of their loss to the Gamecocks a week ago. Army jumps up to No. 22 with a 35-14 win against Tulane, and UNLV falls to No. 24, jumped by Clemson and Army.
GO DEEPER
Alabama snubbed? The Crimson Tide’s case for Playoff inclusion
26-50
Rank | Team | Record | Prev |
---|---|---|---|
26 |
8-4 |
24 |
|
27 |
8-4 |
26 |
|
28 |
8-4 |
27 |
|
29 |
8-4 |
29 |
|
30 |
9-4 |
30 |
|
31 |
7-5 |
31 |
|
32 |
7-5 |
32 |
|
33 |
7-5 |
33 |
|
34 |
8-4 |
34 |
|
35 |
8-4 |
35 |
|
36 |
9-3 |
36 |
|
37 |
8-4 |
37 |
|
38 |
8-4 |
38 |
|
39 |
7-5 |
39 |
|
40 |
10-3 |
52 |
|
41 |
10-3 |
40 |
|
42 |
6-6 |
41 |
|
43 |
6-6 |
42 |
|
44 |
8-3 |
43 |
|
45 |
7-5 |
44 |
|
46 |
7-5 |
45 |
|
47 |
7-5 |
46 |
|
48 |
6-6 |
47 |
|
49 |
6-6 |
48 |
|
50 |
6-6 |
49 |
Tulane remains at No. 30 after the AAC title game loss to Army. Sun Belt champion Marshall jumps up to No. 40 after a 31-3 win against Louisiana.
51-75
Jacksonville State climbs to No. 60 with a 52-12 win against Western Kentucky in the CUSA title game, and Ohio moves up to No. 73 after beating Miami (Ohio) to win the MAC. The Bobcats stay behind Kentucky because of their 41-6 loss to the Wildcats in Week 4.
76-134
The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Photo: Loren Orr / Getty Images)
Sports
Bengals snap losing streak after Cowboys' head-scratching blunder on 'Monday Night Football'
The Cincinnati Bengals have had some crushing defeats this season, but something finally went their way to cash a 23-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on “Monday Night Football.”
The Bengals snapped a three-game losing streak, moving to 5-8 on the season. Meanwhile, the Cowboys’ win streak of two games comes to a halt and they are also 5-8 on the year.
At the two-minute warning, the Bengals were in their own zone after a potential game-winning drive went awry. Facing fourth-and-27, they had no choice but to punt, and things got much worse when Cal Adomitis blocked the punt which should’ve given the Cowboys perfect field position to take the lead late in the game.
Then, that big Bengals break came for Zac Taylor’s squad.
Amani Oruwariye thought it was smart to try and recover the bouncing ball as it was making its way downfield, but he was unable to field it cleanly.
Since it touched Oruwariye, the Bengals could recover and regain possession, and that’s exactly what happened as Maema Njongmeta fell on the ball at the Cincinnati 43-yard line to give Joe Burrow and his crew another shot at taking the lead.
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Just three plays later, Burrow found ol’ reliable, Ja’Marr Chase, on a short pass where he made a Cowboys’ cornerback miss, and he was off to the races for a 40-yard touchdown to make it 27-20 after the extra point.
That capped another “Monday Night Football” highlight reel for Chase, who finished the game with 177 yards on 14 catches with two touchdowns, which also included the first for the Bengals on the night.
Cooper Rush and the Cowboys did have enough time to move downfield for a potential game-tying drive. But on fourth-and-7 near midfield, Rush overshot Jake Ferguson and the ball hit the turf, sealing Dallas’ fate as a loss.
CeeDee Lamb, who scored the game’s first touchdown and had 93 yards on six catches, was jumping up and down because he was wide open in the middle of the field. Rush didn’t see him, and thus the result.
Burrow’s night was another spectacular one, as he went 33-for-44 for 369 yards with three touchdowns – the other a catch-and-run by running back Chase Brown in the first half – as well as an interception.
For the Cowboys, a positive trend continued for Rico Dowdle despite the loss, as the young running back rushed for a game-high 131 yards on just 18 carries. Since taking over the lead role in the backfield, Dowdle has really turned it on late in the season.
Both of these teams might not be in playoff position with four games remaining, but a primetime thriller was seen at AT&T Stadium where the Bengals finally tasted victory again.
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Sports
Stephen Barbee resigns as football coach at Long Beach Poly
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