Four players of the first league team Telstar, who refused to wear the rainbow jersey in the match against TOP Oss tomorrow night, were excluded from the squad for this match.
“It’s such a nice shirt, I would wear it,” coach Mike Snoei said. “But it goes deeper than that, it has nothing to do with the jersey.” The jersey is part of Telstar All Together, a campaign where the club wants to show that it means connection and inclusion.
Snoei does not want to reveal the names of the players but admits that the search was easy. These will be the club’s top scorers Zakaria Eddahchouri, Leonardo Rocha de Almeida, Mohammed Tahiri and Alae-Eddine Bouyaghlafen.
“It’s not about who they are, but we are Telstar ambassadors and we wear this shirt with enthusiasm,” explains Snoei. “It’s a shame that there are four players who think a little differently about this.”
According to Snoei, players will not be given any further penalties. “The message is really about tolerance. “If there were other consequences, we wouldn’t respect their decisions.”
The four best guests
According to Snoei, the reason the t-shirt was rejected was because it had too broad a message. “First and foremost, the jersey means everyone is welcome and that is truly Telstar. The idea that these players do not support this is not true. They are the four best guests.”
According to the instructors, they too support the message, “but there are things they don’t want to promote,” he explains. “Being tolerant means we must also respect their decisions.”
The rejection of players is notable as Telstar frequently runs campaigns encouraging participation. “Perhaps we could have done better as a club and we should mention that when recruiting players,” admits Snoei.
Snoei says the selection also had sporting consequences and “it affected four players the most.” “It’s a shame to have our better form interrupted by something much more important from a sporting perspective, even if it was justified.”
get excited
It is common for players to refuse to participate in such ventures. An example of this is former Telstar player Redouan El Yaakoubi, who lost his captaincy at Excelsior last season because he did not want to take part in the KNVB’s OneLove campaign.
Recently, the Football Association announced on the day that wearing the captain’s armband would be a personal decision. This means that captains of professional football clubs only wear the band if the club or player requests it.
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
