The coaches of the remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament Final Four have issued a joint statement clarifying their position on Indiana’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Kentucky’s John Calipari and Bo Ryan of Wisconsin issued the statement during a press conference ahead of the Final Four, which takes place on Saturday.
“We are aware of the recent actions in Indiana and have made a point to talk about this sensitive and important issue among ourselves and our teams,” read the statement. “Each of us strongly supports the positions of the NCAA and our respective institutions on this matter – that discrimination of any kind should not be tolerated. As a part of America’s higher education system, college basketball plays and important role in diversity, equality, fairness and inclusion, and will continue to do so in the future.”
The Act has attracted widespread criticism from those who say it enables discrimination against gays and lesbians. The NCAA itself has criticised the law, as have former basketball players such as Charles Barkley and Jason Collins, the first openly gay athlete to play in the NBA.
