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Indigenous leaders have defended Australian boxer Damien Hooper's decision to wear a T-shirt with the Aboriginal flag at the Olympics, saying he should not have to apologize for the move.
Hooper was warned by Australia's chef de mission Nick Green not to wear the shirt again after sporting it at his opening fight on Monday.
Green said Hooper had apologized and assured him he would not happen again given it was a long-standing rule of the Olympics that only flags of competing nations can be displayed at Games events.
But the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, which advocates for the rights of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, said the incident was "bureaucratic insanity".
"Boxer Damien Hooper has a right to show his identity as an Aboriginal person in the Australian team," it said in a statement issued late Tuesday.
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Hooper was warned by Australia's chef de mission Nick Green not to wear the shirt again after sporting it at his opening fight on Monday.
Green said Hooper had apologized and assured him he would not happen again given it was a long-standing rule of the Olympics that only flags of competing nations can be displayed at Games events.
But the National Congress of Australia's First Peoples, which advocates for the rights of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, said the incident was "bureaucratic insanity".
"Boxer Damien Hooper has a right to show his identity as an Aboriginal person in the Australian team," it said in a statement issued late Tuesday.
[Click Here To Read More]
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