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    Ipswich captain Sam Morsy refuses to wear Rainbow Laces armband because of ‘religious beliefs’
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    Ipswich captain Sam Morsy refuses to wear Rainbow Laces armband because of ‘religious beliefs’


    Ipswich captain Sam Morsy refuses to wear Rainbow Laces armband because of ‘religious beliefs’

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2024/12/02/ipswich-sam-morsy-refuses-rainbow-armband-religious-beliefs/

    Posted by Aggressive_Plates

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    37 Comments

    1. DrCrazyFishMan1 on

      I don’t get why you need to put “religious” in there.

      He’s a cunt who believes in something only a cunt would believe, which has nothing to do with religion

    2. CheesyLala on

      So just to be clear:

      Should I disapprove because he is intolerant of other people’s sexuality?

      Or approve because I respect his religious right to disapprove if his God tells him to?

      Or just call him a c*nt because I live in Norwich and he plays for Ipswich?

    3. StupidMastiff on

      It was pointed out in r/soccer that he was happy to play in kits plastered with gambling adverts on them, so he is selective about which aspects of his religion to follow.

    5. Dadavester on

      It’s not because of his religion. It’s because he is a homophobe.

      Happily wore a kit with a betting company plastered on it for loads of games. Won’t wear a rainbow armband for 1 game.

      He is hiding behind his faith.

    6. xParesh on

      No one should be forced to virtue signal for anyone in a work environment however merit worthy a particular cause happens to be for you.

      Workers should to be allowed to participate if they want or be left to avoid it if they don’t.

      All that should matter is that in a work situation is that your primary focus is doing your the job you are paid for without being vilified, attacked or feel the need to have to explain why they’re not partaking to support a causes they do not wish to take part in.

    9. MousseCareless3199 on

      As is his right within a free society that allows freedom of religion and expression.

      Not sure why everyone is getting hysterical in this thread.

    11. Chronomaly67 on

      I don’t think anyone should be forced to wear it

      Obviously no one is anyway

      And he’s allowed to have his very wrong opinion and think whatever he wants to think

      But I’m entitled to my opinion 

      And my opinion is that he’s a fucking wanker

    13. MMAgeezer on

      Can anyone actually provide a good faith explanation as to how this isn’t just homophobia, given his religious beliefs aren’t reason enough to not sign contracts to wear shirts with gambling sponsors on the chest?

      I would be interested to hear that broken down. In particular, if this line of reasoning argues that any sponsor is just out of his control, i.e. he wouldn’t have an issue with a pork pie or alcohol sponsor on the chest?

    16. RedofPaw on

      I don’t think he should go to jail for this opinion. I don’t think he should lose his job or be forced to wear it.

      But I do think he is a homophonic hypocrite , hiding behind religion so he can preach his hate.

    17. Hot_Price_2808 on

      I believe he is every right to be a homophobic bigot but he should have every right to be criticized and it’s not related to his religion it relates to the fact he’s a homophobe hiding behind his religion.

    19. Friendly_Guard694 on

      Absolute non issue. It’s worse people on here slagging him off, he can do what he wants.

    20. chilli_con_camera on

      What is the Venn diagram of commenters who believe Sam Morsy should be free to express his religious views, and commenters who think Muslim values are taking over the UK?

      A quick scan suggests an overlap.

    22. mizzenmast_ on

      I always find it puzzling that the majority of Muslims find homosexuality morally wrong ([around 1-2%ish think it’s morally acceptable in most Muslim countries](https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-morality/#:~:text=In%20most%20countries%20surveyed%2C%20fewer,Bosnia%2DHerzegovina%20(10%25))) yet they take no issue with their prophet marrying a 6 year old and [raping her when she was just 9](https://sunnah.com/bukhari:5134)

      It’s quite telling really.

    23. ConsciousStop on

      Yet another homophobe, hiding behind religion. Have no issue with alcohol and gambling brands all around him, does he?

    24. ixid on

      I don’t support his views, but shouldn’t it be people’s choice if they wear things that advocate for a particular set of beliefs or ideals?

    25. Inside_Performance32 on

      Everyone who was happy with that Irish player not wearing a poppy is suddenly very loud .

    26. Astriania on

      I’m actually fine with this.

      I have big problems with Islam’s attitude to gay people (and women, for that matter), and if we think he is actually intolerant or bigoted in how he interacts with them, that’s a different matter.

      But these virtue signalling events, like poppies (which happily seems to have been a lot less controversial this year), should allow anyone to opt out of them.

      We have freedom of religion and expression in this country, and that’s a good thing. And while the Muslims need to respect that in the other direction (i.e. yes we should be able to take the piss out of their religion and draw cartoons of Mohammed without getting death threats from religio-fascists), it works both ways, people should be allowed to have religiously based private ethics and not feel required to support things they don’t want to.

    27. IgneousJam on

      Good. I hope the remaining 19 captains follow suit. What has a rainbow flag/armband/etc got to do with playing football? It’s just virtue signalling bollocks, designed to give PR gurus a job

    28. YaGanache1248 on

      Religious beliefs aka social acceptable bigotry.

      I’m sure he wouldn’t have a problem with other footballers refusing to wear pro Muslim armbands or whatever due to their “religious beliefs”

    29. Beardy_Will on

      Religion being used as a defence? “No guys it’s fine, this hate is a religious hate it’s fine honestly”.

    30. RaedwaldRex on

      As an Ipswich Town supporter, I can attest that our club does a lot for the community and is very inclusive, and doesn’t usually court controversy.

      However this leaves a very bad taste in my mouth, I’ll still support the club I love, but I now think a lot less of our captain. Religion should never trump people’s lives and religious people should never make their religion someone else’s problem.

      He’s even more of a hypocrite if he has worn shirts with betting sponsors on them (though our kit is currently sponsored by Ed Sheeran). If he doesn’t like being inclusive he should have resigned the captaincy and not worn the armband.

      What made it even more shocking is Ipswich have quite a few Iraqi fans on social media due to our player Ali Al-Hamadi, once there was a picture of a pride themed ball when we were in the championship, and a post about supporting LGBT players and fans. The amount of vitriol on that post from the Iraqi fans caused Ipswich to shut the comments down quick sharp and basically tell people bigotry wouldn’t be tolerated, so going along with this is strange.

    31. CarlMacko on

      Had a look at a Facebook page talking about this stating how he’s free to do what he wants and football shouldn’t be political. When literally a month ago you were Hitler if you didn’t wear a poppy.

      It’s just blatant homophobia and hypocrisy.

    32. _Discombobulate_ on

      Redditors love freedom of expression until it applies to someone who disagrees with them lol. Good on this guy for not bending the knee to the ‘pride’ cult.

    33. Lettuce-Pray2023 on

      If a person spouts homophobic language that is threatening or abusive – there is an issue.

      If a person doesn’t treat somebody with respect because of their sexuality – there is an issue.

      There is a trend now where people don’t just want acceptance, they want to be loved.

      I don’t follow football but I see little point in this individual being forced to wear a rainbow band when he clearly doesn’t want to – it’s tokenism. If he isn’t doing the points above – frankly I don’t give a toss what he does. I think most footballers are tossers anyway.

    34. WholeBookkeeper2401 on

      So he doesn’t want to engage in a corporate virtue signal. Big deal.

      The screeching of “InToLeRaNcE” by this thread whilst being intolerant of Sam’s decision is fucking laughable. I’m sure the irony is lost on the majority of you.

    35. BeastMidlands on

      As a gay person, I have to accept that I live in a world full of people influenced by religions that preach hatred against people like me.

      It’s one thing for someone to say they follow a religion that views homosexuality negatively, so they won’t wear rainbow laces. It’s quite another for someone to state that… despite having previously worn ads for gambling, which is also prohibited in said religion. At that point, not only are you homophobic, you’re hypocritical about it.

      He can refuse to wear the laces if he wants. Who cares? He’s a bigoted hypocrite cunt either way.

    36. TW1103 on

      The club can’t have it both ways – Pick a side, you can’t support somebody boycotting an equality campaign because you want to be inclusive of their religion, and in the next breath say you still support the equality campaign. Choose where your morals and values align.

    37. SenatorBiff on

      A lot of people are suddenly interested in using “religious beliefs” to justify being a bit of a cunt.

      Religion needs to fuck off.