Washington (AFP)
The American football team of the Redskins (Washington), which was under strong pressure from its sponsors, confirmed Monday that it would change its name, criticized for many years because of its racist connotation, without announcing the news for the moment.
"On July 3, we announced the start of an in-depth review of the team's name," the statement said. "Today, we are announcing that we will drop the Redskins name and logo after this review is complete."
Team owner "Dan Snyder and coach Rivera are working closely to develop a new name and a new visual approach," the statement said. "We want to keep our sponsors, our fans, and the locals informed of our thought process."
Voices have been raised for a long time asking this American Football Championship (NFL) team to change its name and logo, Native American organizations demanding the abandonment of "this racist insult".
Daniel Snyder had always refused, claiming that this nickname paid tribute to the Amerindians.
But after the death of the African-American George Floyd at the end of May, and while the United States is in full examination of conscience to rethink its relation to their racist past, the pressure - in particular economic from the part of sponsors like FedEx - had increased further around the Redskins.
10 days ago, the team had thus opened the voice to a change, "in view of recent events across the country".
© 2020 AFP