Bluefield College forfeited a men’s basketball game on Thursday after the NAIA school suspended several players before the games over the past two months for kneeling during the national anthems. School president David Olive has revealed that he has told the players of the team to stop kneeling before matches.
When the players refused, Olive made the decision to suspend the players who chose to kneel, which led to the team’s game against Reinhardt University being forfeited.
“The basis for my decision stemmed from my own awareness of how some in our country observe kneeling, and I did not think that a number of our alumni, friends and donors from the college would commit the act of kneeling during the national anthem. do not see. a positive way, “Olive said in a statement.
Olive spoke to players, coaches and the school’s athletic director, Tonia Walker, about the kneeling during the national anthem. Even after the discussions, he still decided to suspend the players for their actions.
Olive was initially unaware that players were kneeling during the national anthem. On February 1, however, he became aware of the fact that players had kneeled in the previous three games, two of which were on the way. After Olive learned about the recent kneeling work, he spoke to head coach Richard Morgan and said that kneeling during the national anthem will not be tolerated.
After Olive made his statement to the team clear, Bluefield College players chose to ignore Olive’s instruction. On February 4, Morgan decided to keep his team in the locker room during the national anthem in an effort to prevent a setback.
“I further told them that their intended message to raise awareness of racial injustice is being diluted or completely lost because some regard their knee-jerk action as disrespectful to the flag, our country and our veterans,” Olive said in the statement. . “In my opinion, their message is not heard.”
The team recently knelt before Tuesday’s game against Tennessee Wesleyan. After the game, Olive told Morgan that the players would get ‘consequences’.