Washington Redskins Open Door To Name Change

The Washington Redskins NFL team announced Friday that it will conduct an "in-depth review" of their team's name ("Red Skins" in French), which has been criticized for many years for its racist overtones. "In light of recent events across the country and the feedback we have had from our community, the Washington Redskins are announcing that the team is going to take a hard look at their name," the NFL franchise said in a statement.

For years, if not decades, voices have been raised asking the team in the American capital to change its name and logo, but its owner, Daniel Snyder, has always refused, claiming that this nickname paid homage to the Amerindians . Since the death of George Floyd at the end of May, and while the United States is in full examination of conscience and rethinking its relation to its racist past, the pressure - in particular economic - has increased further around the Redskins.

Pressure from sponsors

Earlier in the week, FedEx, which sponsors and gives its name to the team stage, officially asked the team to change their surname. Friday, it is the equipment supplier Nike who stopped selling the team's derivative products on its website.

This review process, which could quickly lead to an outright abandonment of the name "Redskins", will allow the franchise to take into consideration "not only its proud tradition and history, but also the opinions of our former players, the 'organization, our sponsors, the NFL and the local community,' said owner Daniel Snyder in the statement from his franchise.

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