ALT Rainbow Devils welcome the statement from Manchester United, as well as the apology and contrition from Jack Fletcher. Homophobic language has no place in football or society regardless of intention or connotation. Words matter and words hurt. Football must be for everyone to feel safe and included. Education, meaningful consequences and a genuine commitment to learning from mistakes are key to ensuring incidents like this become an opportunity for growth and change. Parents, teachers, football clubs, all of us have a responsibility to young people to teach them right and wrong in regards to all forms of discrimination. We hope Jack learns from this and grows as a person and a player. His immediate regret and guilty plea suggests that he will.