Ireland’s national lacrosse team withdrew from an upcoming world championship to open a spot for a Native American team, CNN reports.
The Irish team announced that it would grant its spot in the World Games 2022 to the Iroquois Nationals, who were initially ruled ineligible for the tournament because they did not represent a sovereign nation and did not have the support of an independent Olympic committee.
“It’s simply the right thing to do,” Michael Kennedy, chief executive officer of Ireland Lacrosse, said in a statement. “We are a proud member of World Lacrosse and we recognize the importance of The World Games to the continued growth of our sport. As much as our players would have been honored to compete, we know the right thing is for the Iroquois Nationals to represent our sport on this international stage.”
The recent rule change inadvertently excluded the Iroquois Nation from the tournament. The Iroquois had participated as an independent team in World Championships since 1990. The World Games had only eight slots available, based on world rankings. The Iroquois would have been seated above the ninth-ranked Irish.
Lacrosse is a sport invented by Native American tribes as a war game, played over acres of land and many times with fatalities in games between tribes.