'Hypocrisy' creeping in as sports stars take a stand, says Nine's Tony Jones
Stars who take a stand against sponsors of their sport risk being accused of hypocrisy, according to Nine presenter Tony Jones.
The debate has ignited in recent days, following reports Test and one-day captain Pat Cummins raised concerns with Cricket Australia over a $40 million sponsorship with Alinta Energy.
According to the Australian government's clean energy regulator, Alinta's parent company, Pioneer Sail Holdings, is Australia's sixth highest emitter of greenhouse gases.
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Cricket Australia has denied Cummins had any influence in the decision to part ways with Alinta.
The fast bowler received the support of Adam Zampa, who said on Wednesday that "I've obviously got some personal views about some sponsors that we've got."
That followed a backlash from the Australian Diamonds over a sponsorship between Netball Australia and Hancock Prospecting.
The company's environmental record has been questioned, while indigenous player Donnell Wallam raised concerns over 1984 comments from the late Lang Hancock, who said some indigenous people should be sterilised to "breed themselves out".
Pat Cummins of Australia looks on during game two of the T20 International Series between Australia and the West Indies at The Gabba on October 07, 2022 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde - CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images) Cricket Australia via Getty Imag
Amidst the turmoil, NA chair Marina Go quit her post, although NA claimed it was part of what it called a "planned transition."
Speaking on Nine's Today, Jones said the players needed to be careful not to go too far.
"There's a little bit of hypocrisy here when you look at it," he said.
"Sports people, by their very nature are the first to jump up and down when they're not being paid accordingly, in their view.
"So, there's a very fine line here in when it comes to corporate sponsorship, which isn't all that plentiful at the moment on the back of a world pandemic."
Jones pointed out that by taking a stand, the issue could blow up in the players' faces.
Adam Zampa. Getty
"I understand the cricketers, Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa, were on the front foot talking about environmental issues," he explained.
"Adam Zampa is very much about sustainability. What he's doing is supporting Pat Cummins for actually starting the conversation. Where does it end? If you want to be pragmatic about it all, stop using wooden cricket bats, because that's at the behest of forests.
"If you want to dig deep, cricket's going to be an ever-changing landscape. If you were to pluck a car sponsor, I'm sure there's going to be issues with that too, because of the pollution that is emanated from the exhaust.
"You can't go around crying poor on one hand, and then trying to take this social issue soap box on the other hand," he added.
"I'm sure they'll work it out, but at the moment there's just a little bit of hypocrisy creeping into world sport."
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