American football league says flagging player for prayer was mistake

National Football League spokesman Michael Signora said on Tuesday that Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah should have never been penalised for bending down in prayer in Monday’s 41-14 win over the New England Patriots. While some fans assume the NFL rulebook provides an exception for praying players, that isn’t exactly true. The excessive celebration rule only states that players are “prohibited from engaging in any celebrations while on the ground.” Prayer is never specifically mentioned, and there is a permissive view that NFL officials usually take toward religious exhibition. Twitter users noted that Christian players are not penalized for celebrating.

To prevent the appearance of a double standard, we urge league officials to clarify the policy on prayer and recognise that the official made a mistake in this case.

Ibrahim Hooper, Council on American-Islamic Relations spokesman

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