- Players can choose to stay in locker room during national anthem
- Protests caused chaos for league over last two seasons
- Players union unhappy with league’s new policy
NFL owners have issued new guidelines which will see teams fined if their players or staff do not show appropriate respect for the national anthem. According to the new rules: “a club will be fined by the League if its personnel are on the field and do not stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.”
The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, said the league had been “sensitive” on the issue. “We want people to be respectful of the national anthem. We want people to stand,” Goodell said. “That’s all personnel, and to make sure they treat this moment in a respectful fashion. That’s something that we think we owe. We’ve been very sensitive on making sure that we give players choices, but we do believe that moment is an important moment and one that we are going to focus on.”
Written by Tom Lutz in New York
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/may/23/nfl-protest-national-anthem-new-rules-fine under the title “New NFL rules: teams face fines if players kneel during national anthem”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
