Ipswich captain Sam Morsy refuses to wear Pride armband for Stonewall match
Morsy was the only of 20 participating captains to not wear the armband during a fixture of special matches meant to promote LGBTQ+ inclusivity in professional sport
By Dale Fox
Premier League club Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy has refused to wear a Pride-themed rainbow armband during an LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall match, with the club citing the player’s “religious beliefs”.
The match was part of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces campaign, which is encouraging Premier League clubs showing to show support for queer inclusion in sport by team captains wearing rainbow armbands during a special fixture of games.
British-born Egypt international Morsy, who is a practising Muslim, chose not to wear the armband during a match between Nottingham Forest on 30 November. Morsy was the only of 20 participating captains to not wear the armband, BBC Sport reported.
Ipswich Town said in a statement that they “respect” Morsy’s decision to not wear the armband, adding, “We proudly support the Premier League’s Rainbow Laces campaign and stand with the LGBTQ+ community in promoting equality and acceptance.”
They continued, “During this year’s campaign, members of the club’s men’s and women’s first teams visited our Foundation’s weekly LGBTQ+ football session, and the club made a joint pledge of solidarity and inclusivity alongside Nottingham Forest ahead of the game.”
Former Wales captain Laura McAllister and current vice-president and executive committee member for football governing body Uefa told the BBC that Morsy’s choice was “disappointing,” though adding that “so many other captains [are] championing equal rights.”
“I think there has to be an element of individual choice, but I’m really disappointed because a captain represents the team, and the club, and everybody who is a fan of that club, and everybody who works at that club, and that will include a lot of LGBT people as well,” she said on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“It’s about me now showing myself on the pitch” – footballer Jake Daniels on being a visible queer role model
Promoting LGBTQ+ visibility in professional sport has been brought to the forefront in recent years, particularly thanks to the efforts of out gay athletes, including Olympian Michael Gunning.
Earlier this year, Gunning released Beneath the Surface, a Sky Sports documentary that dives into the challenges of LGBTQ+ discrimination in sport.
The series opener centres on Jake Daniels, Blackpool FC’s rising star and the UK’s only out gay male professional footballer since Justin Fashanu in 1990.
“People now only really know me as the ‘gay footballer,’” Daniels tells Gunning in the doc. “It’s about me now showing myself on the pitch, proving that I’m a good footballer and just getting out there and just showing people that I am the footballer that I want to be.”
And in 2022, sport journalist and former professional footballer Alex Scott donned a OneLove armband in a visual protest against homosexuality being illegal and punishable with prison sentences and death in Qatar while attending England’s opening game in the 2022 Qatar World Cup.