Silence from the media..

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GWS forward Haneen Zreika opts out of AFLW Pride Round due to rainbow jersey​

Giants forward Haneen Zreika will miss next weekend’s AFLW match against Hawthorn to avoid wearing the team’s pride jumper.
Greater Western Sydney forward Haneen Zreika will miss next weekend’s AFLW match against Hawthorn to avoid wearing the team’s pride jumper on religious grounds.
The 23-year-old, will not feature in the Round 8 contest at Henson Park on Sunday, October 16, marking the second-consecutive season that she’ll miss the AFLW Pride round, The Herald Sun reports.

The practising Muslim also missed last season’s match against the Western Bulldogs in Sydney after refusing to wear the Giants’ rainbow jersey, which shows support for the LGBTQIA+ community.

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Zreika became the first Islamic footballer to play in the AFLW after making her debut in 2019, kicking six goals in 36 games since.

She played during the AFLW pride round in 2021, but the Giants did not wear a pride jumper that season.

“As the first Australian Muslim woman in the AFLW, I have a responsibility to represent my faith and my community,” she wrote in a statement in January.

“I respect people regardless of their sexual orientation.

“This decision was extremely difficult and I appreciate the support of the AFL, Giants and my teammates.

“Inclusion is about creating a space where people are able to respect their right to choose how they live their life as long as they don’t advocate hate and division.”


Speaking on Disney+ documentary series Fearless: The Inside Story of the AFLW, Zreika explained how the pride jersey made her feeling like an “outsider” in the competition.

“Coming into this, I never thought it would be an issue,” she said.

“I didn’t want to make a big deal of it, until the AFL rejected me from wearing a normal jersey. That was a shock to me. I love what the AFL do and the way they include everyone, but you can’t have a round where you include people but exclude someone that it impacts their faith.

“I really feel like an outsider, like, ‘No mate, you’re not part of us’.

“I always respect everyone, no matter what they are or where they come from.

“But obviously I take my religion seriously.

“They can be whatever they want. I still love and respect them and they’re still my mates.”

The Giants, who are currently 13th on the AFLW ladder after claiming two wins from their opening six rounds, will next face Collingwood at Victoria Park on Sunday, with the first bounce scheduled for 5.10pm AEDT.
 
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The silence in the media is probably due to the fact it’s not the first time she has boycotted a game due to the jersey,her teammates have no issue with her doing it and it’s the AFLW
 
It’s too easy to become cynical in this day and age. Sport is about bringing people together across all walks of life to play sport. Why can’t be just be satisfied with this and and enjoy for what it is.? Sport is now being infiltrated by ideology more than ever. The irony though is ideology is very similar to the dogmatic aspects of Religion….
 
It’s too easy to become cynical in this day and age. Sport is about bringing people together across all walks of life to play sport. Why can’t be just be satisfied with this and and enjoy for what it is.? Sport is now being infiltrated by ideology more than ever. The irony though is ideology is very similar to the dogmatic aspects of Religion….
Now sport of all types is becoming go woke or go home. Sport as I grew up loving and watching is never going to be the same. Our club is now for ever changed and I will never forgive the club for how it handled this year.
 
If all clubs have to wear a rainbow it will take the focus off us as there are lots of clubs with numerous players that would be in the same boat as our 7 and might end up with large numbers of sit outs around the league.
 
If all clubs have to wear a rainbow it will take the focus off us as there are lots of clubs with numerous players that would be in the same boat as our 7 and might end up with large numbers of sit outs around the league.
I'm not so sure about that, Adz. That "This would happen at every other NRL club" line was trotted out as a given by blokes like Paul Kent at the time, but in the weeks that followed a number of players from other teams, notably the Roosters and Cronulla, made it clear that it is possible to be Polynesian, a Christian AND tolerant/accepting of others and inclusivity initiatives.

Not every NRL club has a lay pastor in its playing group. And no club, no matter how laughable they might otherwise be, does dysfunction, incompetence and stupidity quite like ours. A club with strong leadership would have been able not just to get this off the ground but to see it through. And if it was led by the NRL it would have been that much easier.

But again, I'd be stunned if we tried to go out on our own with this next season. Sure, Scott Penn said we would at the time, but we all know Scott Penn says a lot of things without thinking about them first.
 
I'm not so sure about that, Adz. That "This would happen at every other NRL club" line was trotted out as a given by blokes like Paul Kent at the time, but in the weeks that followed a number of players from other teams, notably the Roosters and Cronulla, made it clear that it is possible to be Polynesian, a Christian AND tolerant/accepting of others and inclusivity initiatives.

Not every NRL club has a lay pastor in its playing group. And no club, no matter how laughable they might otherwise be, does dysfunction, incompetence and stupidity quite like ours. A club with strong leadership would have been able not just to get this off the ground but to see it through. And if it was led by the NRL it would have been that much easier.

But again, I'd be stunned if we tried to go out on our own with this next season. Sure, Scott Penn said we would at the time, but we all know Scott Penn says a lot of things without thinking about them first.
That is why I said might,but you cannot rule it out can you?
Panthers have many players,etc....it doesn't have to be every club.
 

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