Calacus Weekly Hit & Miss – Alfie Pugsley & Australian Open
Every week we look at the best and worst communicators in the sports world from the previous week.
HIT - ALFIE PUGSLEY
Sport is for people of all shapes, sizes, genders, ages, creeds and ethnicities.
This was evident this past week as the rugby world came together to support a young player who was trolled online for being 'too big' to play for his under-12s team.
Alfie Pugsley – who plays for Oakdale RFC in Caerphilly, Wales – was targeted by an online troll as a result of his weight. The vitriolic abuse was reported by his father, Mark, in a tweet which has garnered an incredible outpouring of support from many of the game’s biggest stars.
Mark Pugsley's tweet read: “Had to remove a post from Facebook as an idiot commented saying my boy is too 'big' to play under 12s and isn't healthy. If only people knew how hard he works to get fitter and how low his confidence has been. Don't worry Alfie I'll always be your biggest fan.”
The original post was liked more than 195,000 times, with a flood of people backing up Alfie. His father responded to one message of support by saying: “It baffles me that a so-called adult who doesn't even know Alfie took time out of his day to try and belittle him on Facebook.
“Luckily he didn't see the comments on Facebook, he's at an age where he's very body conscious but he's enjoying his rugby this season.”
The exasperated outburst was swiftly met with messages of care and encouragement from social media users and as it went viral, Alfie’s experience captured the hearts of the rugby community worldwide.
Former England and British and Irish Lions prop – Alex Corbisiero, New Zealand’s World Cup winning Jerome Kaino, Springbok skipper Siya Kolisi, Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira and even the All Blacks themselves were some of those to extend their support.
Corbisiero, a former loosehead prop, shared a picture of his younger self on the bigger side with a message of support: “Hi Mark, please show this to Alfie, I heard very similar things when I was younger, Alfie keep working hard, you will have the last laugh and I promise this experience will make you a better person later in your life. Keep smiling.”
All Blacks two-time World Cup winner Jerome Kaino wrote: “Hey Alfie, you keep having loads of fun & working hard mate, our beautiful game is for ALL genders, people from ALL walks of life & also ALL shapes & sizes, keep that smile on your face brother & keep up the awesome work.”
Kolisi, South Africa's first black captain in their troubled rugby history, said: “Alfie, I’m proud of you for being a true champion through your hard work and determination.
“Keep doing what you do and don’t let anyone tell you who you can’t be. Never make yourself small because of small-minded people. Dlala kwekwe kulate ngoku to waste time on haters.”
Double World Cup winning forward Mtawarira, renowned for his size, wrote: “Big fella you have my support. I walked this road too once upon a time when people silently bullied me about my size and questioned whether I was the correct age for my age group. Keep your head high and never let the haters get to you. The game of rugby is for all.”
A number of notable Welshmen from within the game, including Jonathan Davies, Louis-Rees Zammit and Liam Williams also sent Alfie their best wishes.
A few went a step further, with former Wales player and British and Irish Lion Andy Powell saying he would coach a session for Alfie and his teammates and legendary referee Nigel Owens offering to officiate one of Oakdale RFC’s games in the future: “Alfie mate, you keep enjoying the rugby. Always try your best, but always enjoy it. You’re doing well, keep going. I’ll come along to ref one of your games one day and will look forward to it. Keep smiling my friend.”
In response to the inundation of support, Mark Pugsley said: “I've had so many people from the rugby community reach out with such positive messages. Rugby twitter community is the best. I'll take the hate on one of my many chins. We've been blown away with everyone's kind words.”
While Dana Johnson, who is involved with Oakdale RFC, commented: “On behalf of the Oakdale U12's coaches and myself please know Alfie has the support of us all, he'll always be on the right side of our big red wall. Much love Alfie boy.”
However, one of the most inspiring rugby stories for some time turned sour when old posts from Mark Pugsley emerged, which implicated him in alleged racist and homophobic posts.
The tweets contained horrific racist language and forced Pugsley to delete his Twitter account.
Users were quick to pick up on the fact that Alfie’s father had been doing to others, what others were doing to his son – dehumanising them.
Despite the sorry twist to the episode, the flood of support Alfie received remains remarkable and shows the power of unity in rugby – a sport that always has and always will be a game for everyone.
What makes the game unique is that whether you're big, small, thin, tall, fast or slow, there is a position on the rugby pitch for you.
Every single one of those 15 positions are of equal value and this whole episode should serve as a reminder to all that the sport is at its best when bringing people together, not tearing them apart.
MISS – AUSTRALIAN OPEN
After the drama surrounding Novak Djokovic, the last thing the Australian Open needed was another controversy.
But a heavy-handed and seemingly commercial response to the disappearance of Peng Shuai has drawn further criticism from the tennis community and beyond.
You may recall the story emerging late last year of Peng’s disappearance not long after she accused a high-ranking Chinese politician of sexual assault on the Weibo platform.
Given the embarrassment her social media post will have caused, the wellbeing of Peng became a global story.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), whose Winter Games takes place imminently in Beijing, arranged a video call with IOC President Thomas Bach, who said she was "safe and well."
In a statement, the official Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) CEO Steve Simon announced that no events would take place in China until the matter was resolved, with concerns mounting the longer Peng was missing.
He said: "While we now know where Peng is, I have serious doubts that she is free, safe and not subject to censorship, coercion and intimidation. The WTA has been clear on what is needed here, and we repeat our call for a full and transparent investigation – without censorship – into Peng Shuai’s sexual assault accusation.
“None of this is acceptable nor can it become acceptable. If powerful people can suppress the voices of women and sweep allegations of sexual assault under the rug, then the basis on which the WTA was founded – equality for women – would suffer an immense setback. I will not and cannot let that happen to the WTA and its players.
“In good conscience, I don’t see how I can ask our athletes to compete there (China) when Peng Shuai is not allowed to communicate freely and has seemingly been pressured to contradict her allegation of sexual assault. Given the current state of affairs, I am also greatly concerned about the risks that all of our players and staff could face if we were to hold events in China in 2022.
“China’s leaders have left the WTA with no choice. I remain hopeful that our pleas will be heard and the Chinese authorities will take steps to legitimately address this issue.”
Australian Open players renewed their concerns for the wellbeing of Peng with Victoria Azarenka backing the plight of the WTA.
She said: “There hasn’t been that much development in terms of contact with Peng Shuai even though from our side we will continue to make any and all efforts to make sure that she is safe, she feels comfortable. Hopefully we will get to hear from her personally at some point. I think that’s the goal, the main goal right now.”
But the tournament and Tennis Australia clearly did not want Peng’s plight to be a talking point.
The controversy started when spectators appeared at the tournament with T-shirts which featured a photo of Peng on the front below the word ‘Wanted’ and ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’ printed on the back.
Brisbane activist Drew Pavlou posted a video to Twitter showing spectators being approached by security and then Victoria police, featuring activist, Max Mok, in discussions with a member of Tennis Australia (TA) security who confiscated a banner.
Mok queried the reason for the confiscations and a police officer was called to explain that the material was in breach of TA’s policy banning political statements.
“I’m not saying you can’t have those views, but Tennis Australia sets the rules here,” the police officer said.
Tennis Australia defended the decision to confiscate the T-shirt and banner in a statement.
"Under our ticket conditions of entry, we don't allow clothing, banners or signs that are commercial or political," it said.
"Peng Shuai's safety is our primary concern. We continue to work with the WTA (Women's Tennis Association) and global tennis community to seek more clarity on her situation and will do everything we can to ensure her wellbeing."
There was speculation that the ban was linked to the Australian Open’s multi-million dollar five-year sponsorship deal with Chinese alcohol brand Luzhou Laojiao.
Former player Nicolas Mahut tweeted: “What’s going on!? What lack of courage! What if you did not have Chinese sponsors #1573 #beyonddisappointed”
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova was quick to voice her dismay at the peaceful protests too and said: “That’s just pathetic. The @wta stands pretty much alone on this!!! #WhereisPengShuai”
Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton urged a change of heart from the organisers and said: “It’s deeply concerning, and I think we should be speaking up about these issues.
“I’d encourage not just celebrities but tennis organisations, including Tennis Australia, WTA’s been very good in relation to it, but other governments and other bodies, we need to speak as one voice on this.”
Pavlou has taken things further, creating a fundraising page to create more banners and T-shirts which stated: “Sadly Tennis Australia has not taken such a firm stance in favour of human rights and basic standards of justice.
“In fact, Tennis Australia called police on human rights activists at the 2022 Australian Open for simply wearing shirts asking the same question Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams and fans the world over have asked: ‘Where is Peng Shuai?’”
The controversy and the criticism certainly prompted a re-think by the organisers and TA Chief Executive Craig Tiley confirmed: “We support the WTA’s position but at the same time we have terms and conditions about coming on site.
”If someone wants to wear a T-shirt and make a statement about Peng Shuai, that’s fine. One of the things that will be allowed is that if someone wants to wear a T-shirt [with] their personal view on something; but if they come in as a mob to disrupt, that’s not OK.”
As Ash Barty became the first Australian to win the Women’s Singles title since 1978, activists distributed t-shirts, ribbons and stickers saying “Missing!” in Mandarin.
Max Mok, a pro-democracy campaigner from Hong Kong, expressed his disappointment that the authorities had not sought to directly engage with him.
He vowed: “Tennis Australia never reached out to me or any of my team members, they just put out statements via the media. We’ve just been trying to keep them honest. We will take this to the French Open, Wimbledon, the US Open. We will not stop.”