In the hymn contest between the NFL and Donald Trump, not all club owners seem to want to give in to the naughty attacks of the US president. Shahid Khan of the Jacksonville Jaguars went on Thursday to the counteroffensive and subordinated Trump to base motives for the desolate abuse of the team owners and pros instead of the claimed patriotic love.
“He’s jealous of us club owners,”Khan said in an interview with the daily USA Today,”This is a very personal problem with him,”continued the 67-year-old US entrepreneur with Pakistani roots, referring to Trump’s failed takeover attempt at Buffalo Bills in 2014. Khan:”He had the big goal of owning an NFL team. As president, that’s unlikely. Now he’s trying to polish his image through personal attacks.”
Khan’s interview was preceded by a recent insult by Trump against the NFL bosses. At a meeting in New York, the club owners had decided not to force their players to stand up against the White House’s demands to play the US anthem,”Total disrespect for our country,”Trump twittered outraged.
The relationship between politics and sport has deteriorated in Trump’s tenure. For weeks now, the president has been engaged in a feud with the NFL, where players have repeatedly protested against racism and discrimination during the national anthem. Khan, who also owns the English soccer club FC Fulham, joined the players of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the national anthem in September and supported the protest.