Washington’s football team to shed Redskins moniker

The Washington Redskins has confirmed the team is changing its name following pressure from sponsors.

Fan Ed Zierle grabs some merchandise from home ground FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, on Monday. Picture: AFP

The Washington Redskins have confirmed the team is changing its name following pressure from sponsors over a word widely criticised as a racist slur against Native Americans.

Washington announced on July 3 that the Redskins name had been placed under review after a wave of rallies against racial injustice swept across the US following George Floyd’s death on May 25.

“Today, we are announcing we will be retiring the Redskins name and logo upon completion of this review,” the National Football League team said on Monday (Tuesday AEST).

A replacement name was still being worked upon, however.

Washington owner Dan Snyder had long resisted calls to change the team’s name but had faced mounting demands to rethink that position as protests erupted against systemic racism in the US after the death of Floyd, an unarmed ­African-American man, during his arrest by police in Minneapolis.

Merchandise for sale at a sports store in Fairfax, Virginia. Picture: AFP

Native American leaders had written to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last week demanding an immediate change of the team’s name, logo and mascot.

Washington’s announcement was applauded by Ray Halbritter, an Oneida Nation representative and head of the Change the Mascot campaign. “The NFL and Dan Snyder have finally made the right call and Change the Mascot commends them for it,” he said.

“This is a good decision for the country … it closes a painful chapter of denigration and disrespect toward Native Americans and other people of colour.”

Deb Haaland, a Native American member of congress, saluted the move. “About time. It shouldn’t take a huge social movement & pressure from corporate sponsors to do the right thing, but I’m glad this is happening,” she tweeted.

FedEx, which secured the naming rights to the team’s stadium through to 2025 for $US205m, requested the change, as did sponsors PepsiCo and Bank America.

Nike has removed the team’s merchandise from its website.

The team was established in 1932 as the Boston Braves and took on Redskins in 1933 before moving to the US capital four years later.

Mr Snyder had emphatically rejected requests to drop the tag. “We’ll never change the name,” he said in 2013. “NEVER — you can use caps.” President Donald Trump had criticised the move to put the team name under review.

“They name teams out of STRENGTH, not weakness, but now the Washington Redskins & Cleveland Indians, two fabled sports franchises, look like they are going to be changing their names in order to be politically correct.”

AFP