Donald Trump Not only does it generate divisions for its positions in world policy or economy issues. He has also expressed controversial ideas about the world of sports, mainly in relation to the inclusion and fighting of discrimination. The last controversy was fueled the last weekend when the US president said that the NFL Washington Commanders should return to their original name and be known again as Redskins (Red Skins, in Spanish).
“The Washington ‘whatever it is’ should change their name immediately to Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a great cry for this,” Trump wrote in Truth Social on Sunday. His clamor also reached the Cleveland Indians baseball team. “Our great indigenous people, in mass, want this to happen. Your inheritance and prestige are being systematically taken away,” he added.
Trump’s desire replies a delicate theme for the Washington Commanders, who bear that name only since 2022.
The team was founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves, but changed its nickname for that of Redskins the following year and in 1937 he moved to the US capital. His symbol was the face of an American native warrior who wore feathers, an image that the players carried on the sides of their helmets.
The formation of the US capital won under that name the titles of NFL champion, in 1982, 1987 and 1991, but this did not prevent him from receiving criticism for several decades for those who considered that his name was offensive towards the native communities of the country.
The controversy took strength in 2020, in the midst of the wave of protests against racism for the crime of Afro -American George Floyd at the hands of a white police in Minneapolis (Minnesota).
It was then that, pressured by their sponsors, including Walmart, Target, Nike and Fedex, the Redskins chose to use the temporal name of Washington Football Team while the new nickname of the franchise was evaluated.
Finally, in February 2022, the team left the provisional name and announced that Washington Commanders (Washington commanders) would be called.
Commanders “is a name that has the weight and meaning that corresponds to a 90 -year -old franchise,” said team president Jason Wright. “It is something that can allow us to link the history and the rich legacy of championships of this franchise to new traditions in the future,” he added.
The team also prohibited viewers from using ceremonial headdresses of Native Americans or facial paint during home matches.
The newspaper “The New York Times” recalls that then Trump had been against the decision and declared on Twitter that the franchises were considering changing their names to be politically correct.
Current threat
The name was not a success from the beginning. However, the American media points out that more people began to adopt the nickname when the team had a record of 12-5 last season and won two playoffs games as a visitor before losing to Philadelphia in the NFC championship.
But Trump insists on rejecting the new name and has taken his position a little further by launching a direct threat to the Washington Commanders.
“If they do not change the name again to the original ‘Washington Redskins’ and do not eliminate the absurd nickname of ‘Washington Commanders’, I will not make any treatment to build a stadium in Washington. The team would be worth much more and the agreement would be more exciting for everyone,” he said in his Sunday publication.
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The president referred to the desire of the team to re -settle in Washington. The Washington Commanders have announced that they will build a new stadium to house their American Football League matches.
The team said in a statement that it would move from its current enclosure in Landover, in the state of Maryland, to a covered stadium built on the ruins of the Robert F. Kennedy stadium, where he played from 1961 to 1996 under the name of Washington Redskins and won its most prestigious titles, recalls the AFP agency.
The Commanders will invest 2.7 billion dollars in the project and mayor of the US capital will add 500 million, according to the statement. The stadium will have capacity for 65,000 people and will cover 73 hectares in East Washington. The team expects the new stadium to be ready for the 2030 season.
“The RFK stadium occupies a legendary place in our history, where the team dominated the NFL, won three Super Bowls and gave the followers indelible memories,” said Josh Harris, one of the co -owners of the Commanders.
Other controversial positions ()
In 2017, Trump urged NFL owners to fire players who protested against police brutality by not standing during the national anthem.
His government has criticized universities throughout the country for allowing transgender athletes competition.