#player-protests

#player-protests

The meeting is set to be held at the Le Chéile Community Centre in Donnycarney at 8pm on Thursday. Calls for the GAA to drop Allianz as a sponsor stem from the insurer being named among a list of companies in a report from UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese. The report, published last June, named Allianz Insurance among a group of companies involved in paying for the actions of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories.

According to the article, written by RTE's Niall McCoy and labeled as "Exclusive," members of the Dublin sides decided "to refuse to appear in front of Allianz-branded signage" this season because of the insurer's business dealings in Israel since the Gaza invasion. The RTE story inspired other Irish athletes to chime in with support, generated related protests, and overwhelmed all other opening weekend news.

Back in the summer of 2020, I wrote about Jackie Bradley Jr. and the Red Sox's response to protests across sports in reaction to the BLM movement, spurred by multiple instances of police brutality against Black people across the country. I never ended up publishing this article, but I needed to put my thoughts on the situation into words somewhere, whether it be public or not.

She was 14, working a youth game in Southwest Florida, when she awarded a throw-in. As the team which lost possession protested vehemently, an opposing player stepped into the scrum and sheepishly confessed to touching the ball last. "I'm like, 'OK, well thanks for admitting that. I guess we'll throw it the other way, right?'" said Unkel who, as an attorney in addition to being an official, knows the value of a confession.