A junior rugby player in New South Wales, Australia, sparked outrage after people online spotted a homophobic tattoo on his thigh, and now the player is facing a ban from the league unless he covers them.
Cronulla Junior Rugby League issued a warning to the unnamed player after a social media post featuring an image of the player exposed the crass tattoos.
Fans were quick to call out the text inked on the players legs.
One line read:
"eat sh*t f****t”
And the other:
“snort lines and f**k”
@Eden_Richards/X
People on social media were quick to call out the vulgar tattoos, and the post was deleted quickly after.
But the damage was already done, and viewers of the post took to X, formerly Twitter, to express their disgust.
Others wondered how the tattoos slipped under the radar until the post surfaced.
In response to the online conversation, an NSWRL spokesperson said the player was issued an official warning and was told the tattoos must be covered in order for him to continue playing.
“We have a zero-tolerance to any form of bullying, harassment or vilification towards people with diverse sexualities and genders."
“Cronulla JRL has issued the player an official warning and asked him to cover the offending tattoos if he wishes to continue to play in any sanctioned NSWRL competition."
“Being an inclusive sport not only reflects our core values, it also reflects the diversity of our local communities.”
We're glad the league took action against the vile display, but clearly the player has already shown his true colors.
Hopefully tattoos will be more thoroughly screened in the future.
@jman42/Bluesky
@SecretaryBurgum/X
@Doug Ellin/X
@evanrachelwood/Instagram