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.
A rainbow-coloured substitution board is one of the other ways the Premier League marks the campaign (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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.”
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.”
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)
Sports
Russell Wilson announces retirement from NFL after 14 seasons
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Russell Wilson has announced his retirement from the NFL after 14 seasons, a career highlighted by a Super Bowl victory with the Seattle Seahawks.
Wilson, a 10-time Pro Bowler and the 2020 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, announced his retirement in a video posted to social media.
A third-round pick by the Seahawks in the 2012 NFL Draft, Wilson became one of the league’s most recognizable quarterbacks, tallying 46,966 passing yards and 353 total touchdowns during a career that also included stints with the Denver Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Giants.
Russell Wilson of the New York Giants walks off the field following the game against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on Jan. 4, 2026 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
This announcement from Wilson comes after he reportedly finalized a deal to become a CBS Sports NFL analyst. When news broke of his sports media deal, it was unclear if he wished to call it quits for his playing career, or simply take a season off to think about it. But Wilson posted a lengthy video on his social media, where he reflected on his time with the game and confirmed that he would be joining CBS Sports.
“I remember the moment I fell in love with football. Waking up before sunrise with my dad and brother. Deep post routes and ‘moon balls.’ Yeah, that’s where it all began. But somewhere along the way, my love for football turned into more than just passion. It was an obsession,” Wilson narrated as clips from his childhood to college, to the NFL Scouting Combine, to his career highlights.
Wilson found quick success in the NFL after a college career that began at NC State, but flourished at Wisconsin. He went 11-5 in his first NFL season, as the Seahawks quickly became a feared squad in the NFC.
EX-NFL STAR IMPLORES RUSSELL WILSON TO HANG IT UP ‘DO YOUR TV THING’
Accompanied by the “Legion of Boom” defense in Seattle, Wilson and the Seahawks walked into MetLife Stadium for Super Bowl XLVIII and put on a rout of the Denver Broncos, 43-8, to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. It was just the second season for Wilson, who cemented himself as the future at quarterback for Seattle under head coach Pete Carroll, who he shouted out in his video.
“To Coach Carroll, thanks for taking a chance on the young, 5’11″ black kid from Richmond, Virginia who was told he was too small to ever make it in the NFL. We knew what winning was like,” Wilson said.
Wilson wasn’t able to win the trophy again, ultimately falling to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLIV in heartbreaking fashion. Instead of running with Marshawn Lynch on the goal line, the Seahawks infamously chose to pass, and Wilson was picked off by Malcolm Butler to seal victory for yet another Tom Brady ring.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson passes during warm-ups before an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
In 10 seasons with Seattle, Wilson had 37,059 passing yards with 292 touchdowns and a 104-53-1 overall record. Wilson told Seattle fans, “You raised me,” in his video.
It wasn’t as sweet for Wilson once he was traded to the Broncos before the start of the 2022 season, as he started to face some serious adversity and public rifts with head coach Sean Payton. Wilson went 4-11 in his inaugural season with Denver, and after going 7-8 in 2023, the team moved on despite his massive contract looming.
As a result, Wilson took a veteran minimum deal to join Mike Tomlin and the Steelers during the 2024 campaign. He went 6-5 in his starts, earning his 10th and final Pro Bowl bid. The Steelers made the playoffs, but didn’t make it out of the Wild Card Round.
Finally, the Giants signed Wilson before the start of the 2025 season, though they drafted Jaxson Dart out of Ole Miss to be his successor. That quickly changed after just three starts for Wilson, as Dart took over in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Wilson never regained the starting role, though he was as classy as ever, talking about his mentorship of Dart.
Throughout the years, Wilson enjoyed working with every coach, teammate and the fans of each franchise across his football journey.
New York Giants quarterback Russell Wilson waves to fans after the game against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Jan. 4, 2026. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)
“To every teammate I’ve had the privilege of sharing the locker room with, thank you for the sacrifices, the brotherhood, the memories. None of this is possible without you,” he said.
“To every fan who supported, through the highs and the lows, your belief, your energy and your passion meant more than you’ll ever know.”
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Sports
‘SNL’ star Marcello Hernández to host 2026 ESPYs as show leaves L.A. for New York
Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” standout Marcello Hernández will host this year’s ESPY Awards, ESPN announced Wednesday.
The event, honoring excellence in sports performance, will be broadcast live on ABC and the ESPN app from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on July 15, making it the first ESPYs in New York City since 1999. For the last 25 years, the awards ceremony was held in Los Angeles.
“I started doing comedy 10 years ago, in Cleveland, Ohio, and I would take the train 12 hours to New York to sell comedy tickets on the street in Greenwich Village in exchange for stage time,” Hernández said in a statement. “It is an honor, and frankly feels crazy to be hosting the ESPYs this year in New York. I’m sure the energy is going to be great.”
Hernández recently headlined the biggest Spanish-language comedy show ever at the Hollywood Bowl as part of the Netflix Is a Joke Festival in May, and wrapped up his fourth season of “SNL” soon after. His first stand-up special, “American Boy,” premiered on Netflix in January.
He’s also a sports enthusiast, having grown up playing soccer and competing at the collegiate level during his time at John Carroll University in Ohio.
“Marcello is one of the most electric, young comedians today. His genuine enthusiasm for sports and his ties to New York City make him a natural fit to host this year’s ESPYs,” Craig Lazarus, ESPN vice president and executive producer of the ESPYs, said in a statement.
Hernández succeeds last year’s emcee, comedian Shane Gillis, as well as past hosts that include Jimmy Kimmel, John Cena, LeBron James and Peyton Manning.
In January, Puck reported that the change in venue is an effort to capitalize on the popularity of Fanatics Fest, the massive sports festival taking place in New York’s Javits Center from July 16-19, which also coincides with the World Cup final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
“This return to the heart of Manhattan brings the celebration of sports back to its roots for an unforgettable night at an iconic cultural landmark,” an ESPN spokesperson said in a statement.
Sports
AJ Brown trade outcome: Dianna Russini paid a heavy price while Mike Vrabel emerged unscathed
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Mike Vrabel and A.J. Brown were winning on Tuesday because the long-rumored trade that reunited them was finally complete. Brown was free of his recent unhappiness with the Philadelphia Eagles, while Vrabel spoke easily and smartly about how his Super Bowl team was getting better.
It was one lovely victory lap for everybody.
Except for Dianna Russini.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel celebrates after the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field At Mile High in Denver, Colo., on Jan. 25, 2026. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
MIKE VRABEL BREAKS HIS SILENCE ON DIANNA RUSSINI CONTROVERSY
Yes, this is about her as much as Vrabel and Brown. Those three names will be linked for a long time in NFL circles based on what happened going back as far as September of 2025, and then definitely through this offseason that was about, well, the relationship between the coach and the reporter.
If you aren’t up to speed on that relationship, you’ve got homework. And you will probably catch up easily because the reference material is everywhere — the photos of Russini and Vrabel together, the denials of anything untoward between two married people, the collapse of the professional friendship narrative, and everything after.
So, to the uninitiated, you’re excused. Go now and read the soap opera’s opening chapters. Because this might be the saga’s end, barring a major surprise.
And let me cut to that end:
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown walks on the field during an NFL training camp in Philadelphia on July 29, 2025. (Matt Rourke/AP Photo)
Brown wins. He’s wholly unscathed, in fact, and happy as a clam with a new team he grew up adoring.
Vrabel wins, too. Yes, he took some lumps, suffered some humiliating moments in front of reporters and had some family conversations he termed “very difficult,” but he’s ultimately none the worse for wear.
And then there’s Russini. She lost. Big time.
FORMER NFL REPORTER MICHELE TAFOYA WEIGHS IN ON WHY RUSSINI’S CREDIBILITY IS GONE
It was saddening to watch Vrabel’s presser because it was Russini who first reported teams were calling the Eagles about Brown back in September of 2025. She first reported the Eagles weren’t interested in trading Brown.
Russini called it when she told everyone the Patriots were interested (so were the Los Angeles Rams, by the way). And she was right again when she said earlier this year that Brown wouldn’t be traded around the start of the league year in March but watch out for June.
She was dead-on accurate with practically all of it.
Dianna Russini, left, and Mike Vrabel, right, are shown in a split composite image featuring Russini with an ESPN microphone and Vrabel on the Titans sideline wearing a headset. (Imagn Images)
But everyone has surmised all that information came out of her relationship with Vrabel. All that insider work came from other alleged inside work.
Russini’s information was great but how she seemingly attained it eventually led to her resigning from The Athletic. And sullying her professional reputation.
Losses.
MIKE VRABEL STEPS AWAY INDEFINITELY TO SEEK COUNSELING
Vrabel? He seemed just fine on Tuesday.
About the hardest thing he had to do was answer a question about Brown’s obvious displeasure last year in Philly.
“I don’t know what happened,” Vrabel said. “I’m not trying to figure out what happened in Philadelphia. I’m trying to focus on what’s going to happen here and trying to get him acclimated to what we do and how we do it.”
Vrabel, during this press conference, congratulated a reporter for winning a marathon. He thanked Executive Vice President for Player Personnel Eliot Wolf for making the trade happen. And he took a bunch of football questions.
Dianna Russini attends the 2026 Fanatics Super Bowl Party at Pier 48 in San Francisco, California, on Feb. 7, 2026. (Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
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There was not one question about whether he indeed for months leaked to Russini details of where the Patriots and Eagles talks were. Not one question about how his family “counseling” sessions are going or if his marriage is certain to survive.
There was nothing uncomfortable because it seems the local media lost interest or its curiosity on a day the story that Russini beat them on for months was laid bare before them.
And, the thing is, if Vrabel didn’t have to sweat this occasion, he’s probably in the clear. He’s not likely to get tough questions about the whole affair (pardon the pun) again unless more facts come out that raise the issue from the grave.
So, yeah, Mike Vrabel has survived. He’s won.
FOLLOW ARMANDO SALGUERO ON X: @ARMANDOSALGUERO
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