New Zealand Rugby indicated it "will require some form of clarification over Sonny Bill Williams' private sponsorship stance," according to the NEW ZEALAND HERALD. Williams "put himself back in the news" by taping over the BNZ logo on his Blues jersey in his Super Rugby comeback on Saturday. It has been seen as a "religious stand" by Williams, a Muslim, who was playing his first match in the 15-man game since the 2015 World Cup final. NZR CEO Steve Tew said that a "sit-down" with Williams and the national union "would be needed." Tew said, "We've got an eye to it. He has exercised a clause in his contract, and all the players are entitled to do that. We think it's an appropriate clause, but the extent to which that is done is obviously something we'll need to be discussing with [Williams' manager] Khoder [Nasser] and Sonny Bill in due course" (NZ HERALD, 4/11). The AFP reported New Zealand PM Bill English criticized Williams' decision to block out a sponsor's logo on his shirt. English said that he "did not see why Williams should receive special treatment when other players were expected to wear the team jersey." English: "It's hard to understand how one guy gets to behave differently than the rest of them. I don't understand these professional contracts but if you're in the team, you're in the team and you wear the team jersey." Tew, meanwhile, admitted that Williams had put his organization in a "tricky" position. Tew said that it "allowed players to make a moral stand, but approached such complex issues on a case-by-case basis." Tew: "They're all tricky because our commercial partners, with a lot of good faith, come in to support the game" (AFP, 4/10). STUFF's Katarina Williams reported Williams' bank logo boycott "could set a dangerous precedent" for negotiating sports sponsorship agreements, according to an expert. Massey University sports management senior lecturer Trish Bradbury said that his decision could be seen as "opening a can of worms" for future sponsorship deals. Bradbury said, "One would think, purely from the sponsorship [standpoint], that if they're not getting exposure through their logos, and logos are being covered up ... the bank is not getting the whole return on the dollar that they've put in." Massey University public relations expert Chris Galloway believed that, while Williams had "sincere reasons" for his boycott, BNZ "could rightly feel aggrieved" if it was not made aware of his objections before Saturday's game. Galloway: "Although the bank has publicly taken a very reasonable position, it wouldn't surprise me if they were somewhat frustrated that there wasn't a chance to dialogue with him before he took this action" (STUFF, 4/10).
