Al-Ettifaq make error in video and canopy up Jordan Henderson’s rainbow armband

Al-Ettifaq coated up Jordan Henderson‘s rainbow armband of their video to unveil the England midfielder as their newest high-profile signing. The Saudi membership, who’re managed by Steven Gerrard, formally confirmed the arrival of Henderson on Thursday morning in a deal price round £12million plus add-ons.

The announcement got here a day after Henderson had introduced that he can be leaving Liverpool after 12 years at Anfield, throughout which period he managed to win each accessible trophy at membership degree. The video posted on Twitter by Al-Ettifaq to commemorate his arrival was not with out controversy, although, as they coated up his rainbow armband in a montage of nonetheless photos from varied factors in his profession.

His left sleeve was coated with a black-and-white filter within the overwhelming majority of images used, which meant that the rainbow colors didn’t seem within the video, whereas one other picture of Henderson carrying the armband was completely greyed out. Homosexuality is a legal offence in Saudi Arabia and is technically punishable by loss of life, which has usually led to widespread criticism from throughout the Western world.

The video posted by Al-Ettifaq additionally included quite a few fundamental spelling errors, which caught the attention of a number of Twitter customers as they reacted to the news of Henderson’s transfer being made official. The participant himself has additionally been condemned by a piece of Liverpool’s fanbase and a few LGBTQ+ teams within the UK for becoming a member of numerous his fellow professionals in shifting to the Saudi Pro League.

Liverpool fan group Kop Outs not too long ago expressed their disappointment concerning the swap, particularly provided that Henderson has beforehand been hailed for his vocal assist of the LGBTQ+ neighborhood in soccer. The midfielder was nominated for ‘Football Ally’ on the LGBT+ Awards in 2021, whereas he additionally spoke out on the human rights points in Qatar forward of final yr’s World Cup.

“Kop Outs have valued the allyship shown by Jordan Henderson,” the group wrote on Twitter. “We are appalled and concerned that anyone might consider working for a sportswashing operation for a regime where women & LGBT+ people are oppressed and that regularly tops the world death sentence table.

“Gerrard’s participation on this sportswashing is especially galling given his earlier assist for LA Galaxy team-mate Robbie Rogers [who came out as gay in 2013]. When somebody’s made a fortune, ought to cash tempt them to go to work? Maybe they need to be asking themselves these questions.”

Henderson took the captain’s armband at Liverpool in 2015 and made 492 appearances for the club before his move to Al-Ettifaq was officially confirmed. He is the latest high-profile player to join the Saudi Pro League in exchange for a lucrative payday, following in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Roberto Firmino, Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante among many others.

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