Oh for the days when sport was simple. Two teams, or a group of athletes meeting to challenge each other, to see who was the best on the day, return home only to repeat the challenge a week later.
Amongst the thousands of athletes who have competed over the years there have always been those who have stood out, not just for their performances but also because of their acts of sportsmanship, their courage to stand by their convictions and their standing as a person. Over the centuries there are many stories of such people and the reason we recall them is because they stood out.
Everyone knows the story of Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell, who refused to compete on a Sunday at the 1924 Paris Olympics due to his religious beliefs. His tale was immortalised in the movie “Chariots of Fire;” although some of the storyline in the film does not marry up with the facts. Back in the late 1980’s golfer Nick Faldo promised to give one of the staff at a major tournament a lesson. After winning the tournament Faldo remembered his promise and took the young man back out onto the course with headlights from a couple of cars giving them the required light, and gave the lesson.
Whether we like it or not Politics and sport will always be entwined. As long as sport appeals to the masses then Politicians will look to tap into that appeal and win themselves favour. Now with so many sports reliant on Government money to sustain it few are in a position to tell the politicians to buy a ticket like everyone else, and so now welcome them with sycophantic open arms.
In order to receive a slice of the numerous funding packages the various sports are required to tick relevant boxes. It is like sports funding bingo, as the administrators check their numbers and claim another handout for completing a line of requirements.
Unfortunately the Wallabies have found themselves embroiled in a public debate over political and moral issues. One that no doubt new coach Dave Rennie could do without, especially when he has set his stall early by trying to create an inclusive atmosphere within the Wallabies camp. He has made all the players learn more about each other’s cultural background so that there is more understanding and unity. To some this may sound very touchy-feely, but it is essential to understand such issues as they will help explain why players react differently to events. It can even help you understand issues such as why some players are avoiding eye-contact, it is not out of disrespect, in fact it is the opposite. In their culture avoiding eye-contact is showing respect, so to maintain eye contact is viewed as confrontational.
No doubt Rennie and many of the Wallabies would have been in favour of the wearing of the Indigenous jersey to acknowledge the First Nation’s people. Unlike many sports who have not embraced Aboriginal athletes, Rugby Union has had a number of First Nation athletes come through and wear the Green and Gold of Australia. The key point here is the wearing of the Indigenous jersey has to be genuine. There has to be a real sense of meaning amongst every player who slips that jersey over his head. If it is simply a gesture, then it is a waste of time and will achieve nothing, in fact it is likely to cause more hurt.
Since the Jersey was unveiled it was announced by the Wallabies camp that a “unanimous” decision had been reached that the team would not ‘take a knee’ during the national anthem.
What is interesting is that “unanimous” means that the vote was carried by everyone and that they were in full agreement. Yet prior to the ‘unanimous’ announcement South African born Dane Haylett-Petty was quoted in the press as saying he was in favour of ‘taking a knee.’
Since the announcement the Wallabies have been accused of being hypocritical in their stance. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter Fitzsimons, an ex Wallaby himself wrote “What is the point of having an indigenous round, and wearing an indigenous jersey, if you don’t get to base level of showing respect for the indigenous struggle?”
Coach Dave Rennie has been quoted as dismissing these claims saying “Our focus is around First Nations people and the Indigenous jersey. We’re not looking to make a political statement. The key thing is that this is about honouring our Indigenous people and we want the focus to be on that.” Ask anyone who knows Dave Rennie and they will tell you that he is a very honest and thoughtful man, and no doubt what he says is absolutely true.
In fact one can surmise that he has told his players that it is important that the gesture of wearing the Indigenous shirt is done properly, with total respect and understanding. It is totally understandable that he would not want the occasion to be linked to a global statement.
There have been many who have said that the decision is a disgrace when one considers the deaths of Aboriginal people in custody. Yet any death in custody is one too many! The Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2018 found that Indigenous prisoners accounted for just over a quarter (28%) of the adult prison population. Which translated into Indigenous adults being 15 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-Indigenous adults. These are shocking figures.
The 2019 report by the Australian Institute of Criminology entitled “Indigenous deaths in custody: 25 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody” reported the following: “Indigenous people are now less likely than non-Indigenous people to die in prison custody.” The report found that Death from natural causes was the most prevalent cause, at 58% (140), followed by hanging, at 32% (78); 5% (12) were due to drugs and/or alcohol, and 4% (9) were due to external trauma. The good news for all was that the deaths in prison custody had decreased overall for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people! The goal however must be to try and get that number down to zero.
Dave Rennie is trying to build a bond of togetherness within the Wallabies, and so the “unanimous” line comes as no surprise.
However, these are grown men, men with their own beliefs and thoughts. No doubt many have been touched by racial prejudice at some point in their life. Should not the decision to ‘take a knee’ have been left to the individual? Here is a real conundrum for Rugby Australia, can they afford to allow players to make such a call on their own?
As we saw with the Israel Folau situation, where he publicly aired views which were seen as offensive by many. After sacking him for breaching team protocols Rugby Australia had to settle out of court, which weakened their argument that players cannot express opinions of their own, even if they could upset some fans and sponsors.
Today’s athletes are conditioned in many situations to no longer think for themselves. They are silenced, and cowed. They are told what to say and when to say it. They must only stick to the key messaging stipulated by the team or the organisation that they represent.
Such restrictions make many fans wonder if their heroes have a conscience. If they have the power to think for themselves or if they have completely sold their soul to the organisation that pays their wages. Rugby players are supposed to be a cut above your average athlete. These are the men who when they retire work in the professions. They become our lawyers, doctors and financiers. In those careers will they be told what to say and when? Will they once again park their conscience at the door each morning and simply take the pay cheque at the end of the week?
Ex Wallaby captain Nick Farr-Jones’ remarks about Australia not having a major issue with racial discrimination was worrying in the extreme. To have a World Cup winning captain make such a statement would surely galvanise the group to want to take the knee. For if the bonding within the Wallabies camp has been working the white Australians would have heard first hand the issues that have faced their team mates growing up, and will want to stand along side them not only as rugby players but as men.
The Wallabies team is as diverse now in its make up as this country. A country where everyone should be allowed to have an opinion. No longer is it an exclusive club for the private schoolboys from Brisbane and Sydney. There are now a number of different voices within those hallowed walls and they need to be listened to. Why? That is simple, because these are the voices and the stories that the average fan can connect with.
If you trust a player to run out in front of 60,000 people, representing your nation, players who turn up at training -in the main – on time, behave the way that you stipulate under team protocols, surely you trust them to be able to make their own decision as to whether they wish to ‘take a knee’ or not. Will it really destabilise the team if one player doesn’t kneel? Surely that simply shows that these athletes like all of us are different individuals, with different views and opinions. Yet surely they deserve to make such a call themselves?
What would you do? If you felt strongly would you ‘take a knee’ anyway?
As we have seen so many athletes have taken a stand for what they believed to be right. Some paid huge sacrifices. Tommie Smith and John Carlos with their gloved salute at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games stand out, but the Australian Peter Norman who stood with them on the podium also paid a huge sacrifice for wearing a badge in support of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. Gymnast Vera Caslavska was another who showed what she felt on the podium at the same Olympic Games about Russia’s invasion of her homeland. (Vale: Vera Caslavska – A Remarkable Woman).
Politics will always be intermingled with sport, of that there can be no doubt. In life there will be times where you have to make some hard decisions, and sometimes those hard decisions are linked to what you believe and your principles. This is when you discover just how strongly you feel, and how important those beliefs and principles are.
Cathy Freeman has been in the news of late as a nation looked back on her becoming the first Aboriginal athlete to win an Olympic track and field gold medal twenty years ago. Yet in 1994 at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada she won the 400m and carried the Australian and Aboriginal flag on her lap of honour. As many talk about her uniting a nation in 2000, they forget that at that time she split a nation.
Australia’s Chef de Mission for the ’94 Commonwealth Games, Arthur Tunstall, was furious and issued a statement publicly reprimanding the star athlete over her use of the Aboriginal flag. “She should have carried the Australian flag first up, and [we should have] not seen the Aboriginal flag at all.” He said. Many Australians felt the same way. Freeman was told not to do it again. Days later when she won the 200m Gold medal she defied Tunstall and those in authority and once again carried both flags.
Her courage, or defiance is credited with encouraging the government of the day to recognise the Aboriginal flag as an official flag of Australia just a year later in 1995. When Sydney came around no one batted an eye that she would run her lap of honour with both flags, and all celebrated with her. That is even though the International Olympic Committee still does not allow Indigenous athletes to carry their own flag. Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, states, “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” Rule 50 still exists, and is expected to be under the biggest amount of pressure ever in Tokyo 2021. How the IOC reacts will signal whether the organisation is in touch with public opinion and have a huge bearing on its relevance in the world today and its place in society moving forward.
Freeman was one on many who followed their conscience. At the end of the day, sometimes you have to back yourself and stand up for what you believe in. Will we see any player truly follow their conscience and beliefs and defy what has been announced? If we do what consequences will there be?
