adminJOHANNESBURG. — Former South Africa and Lazio star Mark Fish has been embroiled in a social media storm over the Black Lives Matter movement, claiming: “If you stand for nothing you will fall for everything . . . all lives matter”.
It began when the centre-back, who helped South Africa win the Africa Cup of Nations for the only time in 1996, said he “liked” an anti-BLM tweet.
The tweet said Springbok 2019 World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi was an affirmative action appointment and criticised the national cricket and rugby bodies for backing BLM.
Rapper Cassper Nyovest called Mark Fish a “f***ing i***t” after he made an “All Lives Matter” post on Twitter.
“You are one of the most loved football legends and you decide to be so reckless,’’ said Nyovest.
“You can’t say things like regardless of our past when it doesn’t affect you. This is a clear display of white privilege.”
Race is a hot topic in South African sport with two of the three most popular sports — cricket and rugby — accused for decades of discriminating against black players.
Current national cricket team bowler Lungi Ngidi created headlines recently when he urged his teammates to back the BLM movement.
Several former white national team cricketers, including Boeta Dippenaar and Pat Symcox, objected to the call from Ngidi, arguing that “all lives matter”.
“Until our lives matter, no lives matter. We are all important, black lives actually matter,” said the first black Test skipper of the Springboks.
Kolisi later joined the debate, saying racial inequality in South Africa needed to be addressed. — AFP.
Online Reporter