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Reviewing All Whites ‘not priority’

NZ Football is looking at its national team names as it strives to be more inclusive, but, writes Andrew Voerman, it could be a while before there are any changes.

NEW Zealand Football is set to leave any decisions on the future of the All Whites name until after the end of the team’s 2022 World Cup campaign.

Chief executive Andrew Pragnell said work to understand perceptions of the governing body’s brands and potentially make changes was only just getting started, and while that included the names of its national teams, they were ‘‘not a priority in 2022’’.

There has been heated debate as to whether the All Whites nickname remains appropriate, following claims last month that NZ Football was contemplating dropping the moniker as it seeks to be a more inclusive organisation.

The national men’s football team became known as the All Whites during their qualification campaign for the 1982 World Cup, which ended with them making it to the game’s showpiece event for the first time in their history. It was a reference to the colour of their playing strip, which differed from New Zealand’s traditional black, as that was then reserved for referees, riffing off the All Blacks name for the national rugby team, which had been in use since the start of the century, in reference to the colour they wore.

If the name is stripped of that context, when it is read, heard, or seen by audiences unfamiliar with the backstory, especially those overseas, it can appear as if it is referring to a group that consists only of white people, to the exclusion of others, even if that is not anyone’s intention, and that is where there is potentially cause for concern.

In its strategic plan for 2020 to 2026, published early last year, NZ Football said one of its priorities was to make football the most inclusive sport in New Zealand. Diversity and inclusivity was then listed as one of four areas to be examined in a delivery and sustainability project it launched in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic last April, and it was from that work that the issue of the All Whites name came on the governing body’s radar.

Speaking on the subject for the first time, Pragnell said the group working on diversity and inclusivity as part of that project had suggested ‘‘we should give thought to the national team names’’.

‘‘So we said, yeah, we should give some thought to that, there’s nothing wrong with giving some thought to that, and we shouldn’t be afraid of that.

‘‘But it didn’t come up as something we needed to do now, and it didn’t come up as an onthe-spot change that needed to happen, nor has a process been introduced, in full, by which would consider that.’’

NZ Football has commissioned the Gemba Group to conduct research around perceptions towards football in New Zealand, work that is set to begin with a series of online focus groups this week. A Radio NZ report said the governing body had started gauging feedback on the All Whites name as early as six months ago, but Pragnell said no formal process or work had begun.

Pragnell said the initial focus of the work on perceptions would be with regard to NZ Football and the game’s regional federations and while the

national team brands would be looked at as well, that work would be linked with broader work those teams were undertaking around their history and identities.

‘‘I think that in looking at our national identity and our identity with our federations, we would be remiss not to look at national team names.

‘‘Absolutely we know anecdotally that the name is misunderstood internationally. Equally, we know it’s got a lot of passion with a lot of fans at home and there’s lots of different views on it and that’s fine.

‘‘I think we’d be remiss not to, but you can’t do these things independently of the identity of the teams and the journey that all the teams are going through and that’s the foundation for it.’’

The All Whites have been incredibly quiet over the past four years, playing just six matches since they lost an intercontinental playoff against Peru in November 2017 and failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Their most recent outing was in November 2019, but they are set to take the field for the first time since the onset of the pandemic next month.

A pair of fixtures in October, against Curac¸ ao and Bahrain, were announced yesterday.

Former All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen, who led the team at the 2010 World Cup, felt it was an important discussion to have. Speaking to RNZ, he said: ‘‘Even it displeases a tiny minority then that for me is enough to change it. Just because it’s been around for [so long] doesn’t mean it’s right. It doesn’t mean it’s wrong, but we should be having this conversation about inclusivity. [The name] shouldn’t have any negative connotations at all.’’

All Whites coach Danny Hay said: ‘‘How does Ma¯ ori culture tie into who we are and how unique is that for us? There’s a big piece of work that we’re spending a lot of time on.

‘‘In Japan [where Hay coached the OlyWhites at the Tokyo Olympics] we spent a huge chunk of our time off pitch really starting to drive that identity piece.’’

16 SUNDAY NEWS SPORT

en-nz

2021-09-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281900186345515

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