The NRL showed leniency on Wednesday by letting off Wests Tigers players with a warning after they used a gesture offensive to some Lebanese-Australian communities in Sunday’s victory over Canterbury-Bankstown. But the sanction is unlikely to satisfy everyone given the range of responses elicited, from those outraged to others who believe the act was “just a bit of banter”.
Celebrating a second-half try to seal an upset Tigers’ win against the high-flying Bulldogs in pouring rain at Parramatta, backrower Samuela Fainu made a hand gesture known as “the khawd”, and his teammates quickly joined in.
Almost one in five residents of Bankstown have Lebanese ancestry, and the Bulldogs’ fanbase has a strong association with Arab communities in Sydney’s west. The club holds an annual Ifthar dinner each year during Ramadan and one of its favourite sons is Lebanon-born former winger Hazem El-Masri.
Many Bulldogs fans in the stands on Sunday took offence at the sign made by the raucous Tigers players, some returning with a khawd of their own, while others put their thumbs down or raised their middle finger.
But this was not a straightforward Tigers v Bulldogs debate. NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo admitted on Tuesday he had to “learn up” about the gesture and its sensitivities. Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek – who will host a charity sleepout with the Bulldogs on Friday – declined to comment.
Lebanese-Australian former Tigers hooker Ben Elias expressed firm views in the immediate aftermath. “It’s an ugly sign of hatred and these are the kind of actions that create issues and problems. It should be removed from the game immediately,” Elias told the Daily Telegraph.
“It was obviously aimed at the Lebanese. It means ‘go and get fucked’. There’s no need for it and there’s no place in the game for it. The last thing you want to see is kids who idolise these players start repeating those hands signs and thinking it’s cool.”
Not all Lebanese-Australians immediately reach the same conclusions when they see the gesture. Jacob Kiraz, the Bulldogs’ backline hero and son of Lebanese migrants, has been pictured using the khawd in a friendly manner.
Prominent Bulldogs podcast the Kennel sought to provide context amid the storm of attention this week. “Khawd literally means ‘take this’ in Arabic. If done to a mate it’s the funniest thing, but when done in spite people will literally kill each other over giving each other the khawd,” its host Elmo said.
But he believes the incident has been blown out of proportion. “I don’t understand why they’ve made a complaint. It’s nothing, it’s just a bit of banter. It’s just like giving fans the finger. Move on.”
After the Bulldogs expressed their displeasure to the NRL following the game, and due to the attention the controversy has attracted, the governing body was compelled to to act.
A formal warning was given to three Tigers players on Wednesday. “The NRL acknowledges that these actions caused, or had the potential to cause, offence to members of the NRL community,” the league’s statement read.
The penalty was relatively light, given this week the Penrith Panthers were fined $50,000 and had trainer Corey Bocking suspended for five matches for interfering with Gold Coast kicker Jayden Campbell during a conversion attempt.
However, a harsher sanction was handed to Tigers’ back Brent Naden. He was one of the players who gave the crowd the khawd on Sunday, but went further than his teammates in sharing a video of him using the gesture after the match, and accompanying it by saying “fucking dogs”.
Naden and the club have five days to respond.
