Lineker laces up for anti-homophobia campaign as Match of the Day host joins Pardew and Premier League stars Match of the Day host Gary Lineker became the latest star to don rainbow laces to combat homophobia in football.
Saturday saw a number of players wear the laces during their matches, while Newcastle boss Alan Pardew also sported a pair.The former England striker posted a picture of his black shoes' new additions on his official Twitter profile.
He posted the message: 'Doubt they were particularly visual during the show with our monster desk, but the laces were worn.'
The Premier League's early kick-off saw Norwich's Leroy Fer and Russell Martin among the players to wear laces in their 1-0 loss to Aston Villa
as the club released a statement on their stance in the row.
Many clubs have refused to wear the laces in protest at the company behind the scheme, bookmakers Paddy Power.
The laces were also out in Newcastle's clash with Hull,
with Toon boss Alan Pardew wearing them with his black shoes.The Norwich statement said: 'We will not be asking our players to wear the Rainbow Laces this Saturday but we are committed to combatting homophobia
and all other forms of discrimination in the game.'We firmly believe football is an inclusive game which everyone should be able to enjoy watching -
and playing.'Norwich City Football Club is proud to have included our great former striker Justin Fashanu in our Hall of Fame and has worked with the Justin Campaign
and Norwich Pride on activities at the Club to celebrate his life, with his niece Amal Fashanu.
'We are one of 29 professional clubs to have signed up to the Government's Charter Against Homophobia and Transphobia and
welcome continued efforts to tackle homophobia on and off the pitch.'We've had positive discussions with both Stonewall
and Norwich Pride this week and invited them to meet with us to talk about our on-going work in this important area.'
The
Premier League this week has also issued a statement on the matter, which is as follows:'The underlying message behind this campaign is a good one, indeed we and our clubs have worked hard with government
and other stakeholders to
ensure the whole equalities agenda is something we are fully aware of and engaged in.
'However,
we were not consulted about this particular campaign. Had we been involved earlier in the process we could have worked with
Stonewall to consider things like boot deals, the use of particular betting partners, and other issues.
'It is up to individual clubs and players to decide whether they support this campaign. We have let Stonewall know that we would be happy to talk to them in the future to discuss ways in which we could work together.'
Only Everton, an official partner of Paddy Power, will enforce the idea upon their players for the match against West Ham at Upton ParkIt has emerged many Premier League stars are against wearing the rainbow laces due to the firm’s involvement in the scheme.
Paddy Power have upset professionals in recent months with billboard advertising that has mocked players.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2427893/Gary-Lineker-wears-rainbow-laces.html [ 此帖被羅力亞在2013-09-22 20:01重新編輯 ]
