Marc Guehi has spoken out to explain his actions after writing twice on his rainbow bracelet in recent days.
As part of the Premier League's Rainbow Laces campaign in support of the LGBTQ+ community, top flight captains were given rainbow armbands to wear during last weekend's matches and during the week.
Guehi, the son of a preacher, chose to scribble the message 'I love Jesus' on his armband for Crystal Palace's 1-1 draw with Newcastle, and was subsequently reprimanded by the FA.
Despite being reminded of the kit rules, Guehi opted to write a new message – 'Jesus loves you' – ahead of Palace's 1-0 win at Ipswich on Tuesday night.
Guehi will not be punished for doubling down on his stance, and has now revealed the intended meaning behind his two posts.
“I think the message was quite clear, to be honest,” Guehi told Sky Sports. “It was also a message of love and truth, and a message of inclusivity, so I think it speaks for itself.”
Guehi wasn't the only Premier League captain to cause controversy in the past two games, with Ipswich captain Sam Morsy refusing to wear the armband in the first place due to his religious beliefs.
Morsy is a practicing Muslim and was backed by his club for not wearing the rainbow armband, but Ipswich insisted they are still 'proudly' supporting the Premier League campaign.
Morsy was not reprimanded by the FA, leading to Guehi's father, John, to accuse the FA of double standards.
John exclusively told MailOnline on Tuesday: 'I say: has he offended anyone? I don't think so. I really believe in what the Bible says: Jesus loves everyone, and in my opinion Marc did not offend anyone with what he wrote.
'Jesus loved everyone, so by saying “I love Jesus” on his bracelet, I really don't see what is offensive and what the problem is.
'If you look at what the LGBT community does, they try to impose what they believe on others. It's faith against faith, but ultimately everyone is entitled to an opinion.
“But if the purpose of that opinion is to offend you then there is a problem, but if my opinion is just to express what I feel then that's fine with me and I don't think what Marc on that bracelet wrote is offensive.
“He's talking about him, he loves Jesus and like I said, he refused to wear that bracelet. Like Morsy, people should pay more attention to the person who refused to wear it.
“Marc said 'Yes' and did the right thing by wearing it, but people are attacking him for what he wrote. He accepted to wear the bracelet, he was just trying to balance the message.
“He said, 'You gave me the bracelet, as a Christian I don't believe in your cause, but I will put it on,' but Morsy didn't put it on because he said it was against his religion, but there seems to be more People say more about Marc than about him.
“We have such thick skin in this country, God is everywhere in this country, and I know things change because of different beliefs, but it is still a Christian country. Therefore, I don't see what is offensive.
'He is a devout Christian; the son of a preacher and he accepted to put on the armband to welcome everyone to football, but the problem we have now is that players are now being used as spokespeople.”
It also emerged on Wednesday that Manchester United abandoned plans to wear rainbow jackets in preparation for their 4-0 win over Everton on Sunday after devout Muslim player Noussair Mazraoui opted not to wear them.
Clearly, Mazraoui's refusal to wear the rainbow jacket divided his teammates.
The Rainbow Laces campaign will continue for the remainder of the midweek fixtures, which conclude with two top-flight matches on Thursday evening.
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