Azeez Al-Shaair on his “stop genocide” message and the NFL’s punishment of him

Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair has spoken about why he wore an anti-genocide message during a sports interview, and the fine imposed on him for it.

Azeez Al-Shaair: ‘stop genocide’

Al-Shaair wore eye tape, during a post-match interview with ESPN on 12 January, with “Stop The Genocide” written on it. He was fined $11,593 by the NFL for “violation of the NFL uniform and equipment rules”.

Al-Shaair said he had expected the fine, but not to be threatened with being benched for wearing it. A fellow player is regularly fined for wearing tape with messages, but has never been pulled out of a game because of it:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned the fine and praised al-Shaair’s stand. Imran Ghani, CAIR-Houston’s Director of Operations, said:

We again applaud Houston Texans player Azeez Al-Shaair for using his platform to call for an end to genocide anywhere and everywhere, and we strongly object to the NFL’s reported decision to fine him for doing so amid pressure from pro-Israel extremists.

Azeez Al-Shaair’s message was rooted in basic human decency and concern for innocent lives. That should not be controversial, much less subject to a fine.

Featured image via the Canary