Australia spinner Adam Zampa and several members of the coaching staff have come under fire for not singing the national anthem ahead of the recent match against Sri Lanka
The incident took place at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana (BRSBAVE) Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Monday, October 16.
Explained why did Adam Zampa and staff members not sing the Australia national anthem during ODI World Cup 2023
Adam Zampa declined to sing the national anthem at Lucknow. Ditto for Andrew McDonald. Makes no sense to me. Are they not proud to be Australians on a World Cup stage? If not, why are they out there? https://t.co/VU9jiNTXCj
— Rosita Díaz (@RositaDaz48) October 17, 2023
Adam Zampa was struggling with the back spasm, but still played the game and gave his best by picking 4/47.
– Zampa the warrior! pic.twitter.com/drvj7CHoqC
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) October 16, 2023
According to reports, Zampa’s move came in relation to Saturday’s Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.
Australia spinner Adam Zampa refuses to sing national anthem
The incident took place ahead of the recent Australia vs Sri Lanka match in the ongoing Cricket World cup 2023. While all the players lined up and sang the national anthem, Zampa simply chose to stay mum. Meanwhile, coach Andrew McDonald as well as other members of the coaching staff also did not sing the national anthem.
Zampa reportedly made his stance in relation to Saturday’s Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum. Just recently, a proposal to set up a federal advisory body comprising of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was voted down in a landslide. The body was proposed for representing the views of Indigenous communities. However, neither the player nor Cricket Australia (CA) have confirmed the reason behind Zampa’s actions.
Following the incident, popular social commentator Rosita Diaz posted on X (Twitter):
Adam Zampa declined to sing the national anthem at Lucknow. Ditto for Andrew McDonald. Makes no sense to me. Are they not proud to be Australians on a World Cup stage? If not, why are they out there?.”
Prior to the incident, the 31-year-old sang the national anthem during Australia’s first two matches. Although the five-time champions lost both the matches, Zampa returned with figures of 4/47 to help Australia register their first win in the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023.
Following the match, Zampa stated:
“To be honest, I wasn’t feeling great because I had a bit of a back spasm. I was playing through it the last couple of days. Today I felt better, bowled better.”
Rugby players join in alongside Adam Zampa
Interestingly, some Rugby players in Australia have done the same as Adam and refused to sing the national anthem. Some few Australian rugby league players including Kotoni Staggs, Payne Haas and Selwyn Cobbo stood silently while the national anthem was played ahead of their clash against Samoa.
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