Club Excelsior Rotterdam have announced that defender Redouane El Yacoubi has stepped down as team captain after refusing to pose for a photo with a OneLove banner ahead of their 4-1 rout of SC Kambour on 19 March.

Redouane El Yacoubi is no longer the captain of Excelsior.

The club emphasized that it would never exclude anyone “on the basis of colour, origin, religion or sexual preference”, but explained that a player cannot be judged for his opinion either.

“At the end of last week, during the home game against SC Cambuur, OneLove’s campaign against discrimination and racism was discussed again. A debate that goes against all the core principles and values ​​we as a club promote and stand for.

At the same time, we will not and never want to exclude anyone. Not on the basis of skin color, origin, religion or sexual preference. But we also won’t exclude anyone based on our own opinion.

Neither Excelsior Rotterdam nor Redouan el Yaakoubi discriminate or distance themselves from any group. We deeply regret that such an image was created, for which we are definitely guilty.

In recent days, I have been very conscious of distancing myself from the situation so as not to act out of emotion or lack of understanding of a topic that is unfortunately so emotionally charged. In this regard, we found time to discuss together to understand each other’s points of view.

While many people choose to join the crowd, Redouane is a man who feels the call to establish himself as an individual. Someone who likes to express a message in their own way to be heard and fight for equality in the world. He provides daily evidence of this through his own foundation.

The fact that he didn’t take his place behind the big OneLove banner during the team photo caused a lot of noise and misunderstanding about it, both internally and externally, and as a result we found ourselves in a position that neither the club nor the a player

Although we are first and foremost a football club, we understand better than anyone that we also have a social function, and we do something for this every day. OneLove’s actions, however well-intentioned, made things tense. Forcing people to do something is never the right way.

Therefore, in the interests of the club, the player and the sporting goal, we decided together to give the captain’s armband to another player. So that we feel free and comfortable with the role we play in society. This choice in no way diminishes the important role that Redouane plays as a person, a man and a professional in the locker room and on the field. This is in no way up for debate.

Until the end of this season, we will fight for our sporting goals as one team, as one club, and we will continue to fight for equality in our society. A society in which we do not exclude anyone, but in which we can achieve something only if we dialogue with each other” – Excelsior Rotterdam on the official website.

Excelsior is 15th in the Dutch league table with 23 points from 26 matches.