Tiago
I’ve been thinking the whole week about what happened, from the perspective of someone who has been a part of the SIAFL community for such a long time. Situations like this one, where we end up not talking about football, friendship, respect, and joy, strangely hit me. Since the beginning, football has been a part of my life as a way of living, work and it made my life better. I would hardly be here if I didn’t have the friends that I made through football. The situation that took place on May 6th, 2024, did not make sense to see a friend and well-known person suffer such an act against him. To see tears due to an act of hate, inside a football pitch, the place where we all find joy. "It made me question myself: what is the limit to putting our frustrations into hateful actions that go against the joy we all felt when we first played? Will we continue to play when such hateful actions are still being displayed?”
I’ve been thinking for a couple of days. I stand against racism. My heart goes out to Fritz, and to those who felt offended. I hope nobody has to endure a traumatic experience in a place meant for happiness and joy. We lost as a community, friends, players, and humans. Let's never forget. We are all equal, facing similar issues, problems, and difficulties. SIAFL is a place where people should feel like they belong. We should understand that we are a community, and we should stop spreading hate toward one another. we can do better, and we can be better. Make the lives of one another more meaningful. It was a sad week and can never be forgotten. From this week on every game, this week comes with the lesson, that we can make SIAFL the place that reminds us of where we were kids and played the game, not distinguishing race, color, or background, that’s what has always been about. I only hope that it can be ingrained in each of us, in every game and in every action on the pitch.
Siafl:
As you can see everyone has their own sensibility towards racism. This is a complex issue to address in a diverse community.
We apologize if our initial judgment on last week's episode sounded too light.
Overall, we all agree that there is absolutely no room for racism in Siafl, and we commit to that.
As below the new rule voted on friday meeting.
"Derogatory language:
Any offense carries an automatic minimum 8-match ban, increasing to a minimum 10-match ban in the event the offender has been previously placed on probation for suspicion of ungentlemanly conduct.
A second offense results in an automatic permanent ban."
Thanks
/Siafl