There are some readers who feel that politics should not be part of sport. Yet the point is that in my previous article about Moh’s argument with AFTV at zero point have I discussed mine (or Mo’s) views on the issues going on in Palestine.
Just like Moh never wanted to express his opinions on AFTV.
He simply happened to be wearing a badge and someone on the AFTV objected, even claiming they had been threatened legally. In the process that was the platform giving their political views, not the man wearing the badge.
That’s why I feel the need to write about this.
AFTV claims to be the voice of Gooners. While they don’t speak for all of us there is a perception that they do. Sky Sports, Talk Sport, etc, will reference them.
Arsenal themselves were previously forced to release a statement to remind the public they are not associated with the platform.
I should stress there has yet to be a reply from AFTV.
They have directed copyright claims towards Moh which again contradicts their ethos that they give everyone a voice.
Moh claims that before a post-game Fan Cam he was asked to remove a hoodie that had the Palestine flag image. To clarify, someone was being told he would not be interviewed based on a flag being on his shirt!
This was going against a compromise that Moh had already reluctantly suggested.
It was noticed that his videos were being zoomed in to show his face, editing the badge from the screen. He was being treated differently to other guests purely for which flag was on his badge. There’s a word for that.
Moh thought he had an agreement that he could be treated the same as others as long as he covered any words such as ‘ Free Palestine.’
That was until Robbie again asked for Moh to get changed due to complaints the channel was getting.
It’s hard to believe that anyone with any kind of education would believe that any legal action could be taken based on a YouTube Channel showing a flag of a country.
If that were true, the Channel would have sued several times with Turkey, Nigeria and Jamaica constantly referenced.
Moh has shown a message asking for this legal complaint and claims he hasn’t got a response.
Just think about that. In 2021, a grown man, a father, was being told he could only talk about Football if he wore what the interviewer told him to wear!
If it were an English Flag, French, Spanish, etc., he wouldn’t have been singled out. I can’t pretend that I can relate and understand that discrimination. Yet I can call it out.
Isn’t that what we are being encouraged to do? Point out and share when someone is being treated differently based on race, religion, culture, etc?
Moh never got paid for the constant videos that helped Robbie’s business grow. Not that you should tolerate discrimination even if it’s your employer.
Moh was giving content free of charge, for the love of Arsenal, he simply (like the rest) of us enjoyed an outlet to talk about the sport he loves.
If I had a family and a career to look after and my friend asked me to dress a certain way to qualify to talk about football, I would walk away. I would be hurt if I then saw my friend contradict his stance.
Other Flags are shown. Other politics have been mentioned without approach.
I actually think politics have been used as an excuse to hide behind in this situation. Moh does not (and has not) used AFTV as a platform to talk about politics.
In this article I do not talk about politics.
By getting sensitive to the pure sight of a flag isn’t that making a political point?
Yet it’s easy for some to play that card instead of just saying they messed up, they caved to peer pressure.
Robbie’s handling of this has been horrible and he will lose viewers based purely on principle.
If sponsors hadn’t got involved when Son was racially abused, he was willing to keep someone on the channel who not just was guilty of the abuse, but was with defiance refusing to apologize.
Meanwhile, another person is removed because the flag he displays makes you blush.
That’s disgraceful.
AFTV wants to know why they will never be taken seriously as modern media. If Sky asked someone not to show a flag but then allowed others to do so ……. there would be an uproar.
At a time where we are being asked to call out discrimination on social media, this is me calling it out.
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Dan