Can you idolise a sportsman whose views you hate?
IN the wake of the airing of the recent documentary about Michael Jackson, Leaving Neverland, there was much debate about whether it is possible to separate art from the artist. Many expressed their horror at the child abuse allegations the documentary made. Others said they were only interested in the music – the morals of the man making it did not matter to them.
Where do we draw the line? I met Jack Nicklaus last week and considered it a privilege to talk to one of the greatest sportsmen there has ever been and a golfer who has always been a byword for class and sportsmanship. There are others who feel that Nicklaus’s support for President Donald Trump means he has lost their respect and admiration.
The blurring of the line between whether we judge a sportsman or sportswoman on what they do or what they say can make it a complicated, nuanced issue but there are some occasions when the response is made much easier.
Israel Folau’s homophobic outburst on Twitter and Billy Vunipola’s support for him is one of those occasions. When highprofile sportsmen like Folau and Vunipola choose to use their social media platforms to promote opinions that are a form of hate-speech, opinions that could actively encourage violence against a section of society, that encourage intolerance, that are the enemy of inclusivity and which will cause distress, they deserve to be condemned and to face sanctions. Vunipola has already been dropped from Channel 4’s promotion of the Heineken Cup and is likely to be summoned to a meeting with the Rugby Football Union this week. Fellow England player Courtney Lawes insisted Vunipola should be able to voice his own beliefs but there are limits to the right to free speech and Folau and Vunipola have crossed the line.
There is an elephant in the room here. Vunipola, in particular, is articulating one of the beliefs of swathes of church-going Christians across the world. Vunipola and Folau have a right to their opinions but they do not have the right to use their sport to broadcast them if they promote harm to others. That is what they have done and rugby must take a stand against them.