Discrimination in sport: What HR needs to be clear on

When prejudiced views flare up in sport, the whole world bears witness.

Chelsea captain John Terry’s racist abuse of Anton Ferdinand in 2011, and subsequent trials (both legal and professional), is a notable example, but another happened last week.

Joe Marler, an English rugby player called Samson Lee, a Welsh rugby player of Traveller heritage, “gypsy boy”. A Six Nations disciplinary review, under request from World Rugby (WR) noted that Marler had apologised to Lee, and that the Welshman wasn’t insulted by the statement.

The review concluded that the remark was uttered “in the heat of the moment.”