Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has waded into the ongoing Premier League rainbow armband debate, calling for sport to remain “apolitical”.
Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi will receive a formal reminder from the Football Association after writing “I love Jesus” on his captain rainbow armband during his team’s match against Newcastle.
Guehi sparked further controversy when he then used Palace’s fixture against Ipswich Town on Tuesday to write another message, “Jesus loves you”, on the band.
Adding to the row over the armbands, Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy chose not to wear the armband in his most recent match due to his religious beliefs.
Nigel Farage weighed in on the row over Marc Guehi’s armband messages
GB News / PA
Defending the player, who is Muslim, an Ipswich spokesman said they “respect the decision of our captain Sam Morsy”.
Weighing in on the row, host Nigel Farage declared that football should be “apolitical”.
Speaking on his GB News show, Farage addressed the specific cases that have emerged in football.
“We’ve got the Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi, he’s written ‘I love Jesus’ on it, and we’ve got a Muslim player for Ipswich who refuses to wear it,” he said.
Marc Guehi is set to be spoken to by the FAGETTYFarage concluded his comments by emphasising his personal stance on keeping politics out of sport.
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“I just think, it’s a personal view, but sport or sport should try to be, when it’s on the pitch, as apolitical as it possibly can be,” he declared.
Delivering his verdict on the row, former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton told GB News that making such statements on the football pitch is “dangerous territory”, warning of an escalation of the “ludicrous” situation.
Shilton argued: “It should be a general rule that we don’t have any of these statements made on the football pitch.
“It’s very dangerous territory for somebody to come out and say, I’m going to make this statement, because millions and millions of people around the world watch English football in particular. And I can see a lot of things being put into trouble with this.”
Farage told GB News that football should be kept separate from politics
GB News
Crystal Palace has said they will “continue to grow an environment where all are valued and respected, both on and off the pitch”.
A Stonewall spokesperson said of Morsy’s decision: “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.”