The Dutch defender Redouan El Yaakoubi resigned from the captaincy Excelsior Rotterdam after refusing to pose for a team photo with the banner OneLove before an Eredivisie match.
The incident took place on March 19 before Excelsior’s 4-1 home win against SC Cambuur and today the yaakoubi and the club reached a joint decision that should lead to the election of a new captain.
The OneLove campaign promotes diversity, inclusion, tolerance and opposition to all forms of discrimination in football. Endorsed by the Dutch Football Association in 2020, the campaign gained momentum ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar when several countries, including England and Wales, scrapped plans to wear OneLove captain’s armbands at matches as players faced on FIFA disciplinary measures
The club statement
“Not sitting behind the big OneLove banner during the team photo caused a lot of noise and misunderstandings, both internally and externally,” he reported. Excelsior, ranked 15th in the Eredivisie, in his statement
The Dutch club clarified that it will never exclude anyone “because of skin color, origin, religion or sexual preference. But we will not exclude anyone based on their own opinion either.”
“Although we are primarily a football club, we know better than anyone that we also have a social function and we do that every day,” the statement added.
In the interest of the club and player
“OneLove’s action, however well-intentioned, pushed things to the limit. Forcing people to do something is never the way to go. For this reason, in the interest of the club, the player and the sporting goal, we have jointly decided to place the captain’s armband elsewhere in the team so that the club and the player feel free and comfortable in their role.”
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
