new policy.<\/p>\n
The American football league said players who do not stand for the Star-Spangled Banner can stay in the locker room until it has been performed.<\/p>\n
The NFL also vowed to “impose appropriate discipline on league personnel who do not stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.”\u200b<\/p>\n
Players said the protests were against policy brutality of African Americans.<\/p>\n
“It was unfortunate that on-field protests created a false perception among many that thousands of NFL players were unpatriotic,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement accompanying Wednesday’s new policy.<\/p>\n
“This is not and was never the case. This season, all league and team personnel shall stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem.<\/p>\n
“Personnel who choose not to stand for the Anthem may stay in the locker room until after the Anthem has been performed.”<\/p>\n
“All team and league personnel on the field shall stand and show respect for the flag and the Anthem,”\u00a0the first provision of the new policy reads<\/a>.<\/p>\n The policy also includes the provision that individual clubs can develop their own rules – that abide by the new principles – about how to handle personnel who do not wish to stand.<\/p>\n The statement comes a day after NFL teams pledged $90m towards social justice initiatives, under an agreement reached with all 32 teams in the league.<\/p>\n The debate over the kneeling protests began in 2016, when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the anthem.<\/p>\n His actions sparked similar demonstrations by players across the NFL.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump was highly critical of the protests<\/a>, calling them “disgraceful” and unpatriotic. He also urged the players to be fired.<\/p>\n US Vice-President Mike Pence also left an NFL game because players from Mr Kaepernick’s team knelt during the anthem.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"