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Cape Town - Rugby great David Campese has been removed as a rugby commentator by SuperSport after he made derogatory comments about a Pakistan-born Australian cricketer.
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Campese, 50, lashed out at spin bowler Fawad Ahmed after he received permission from Cricket Australia to not wear a beer company logo on his uniform due to his Muslim faith.
Campese, who played 101 Tests for Australia, said Ahmed should "go home" if he did not want to wear the sponsor's logo on his playing shirt.
Earlier, former Test cricketer Doug Walters was quoted in Australian media as saying: "I think if he doesn't want to wear the team gear, he should not be part of the team."
Campese then wrote on Twitter: "Doug Walters tells Pakistan-born Fawad Ahmed: if you don't like the ... uniform, don't play for Australia Well said doug. Tell him to go home."
After Campese's initial tweet, he said he didn't care about Ahmed's religion but objected to his beliefs affecting sport in general.
"Well why did he come to Aussie for in the first place. A better life? Now he is telling people what he wants.! .... a lot more kids who would love to play for Australia. And they would t complain," Campese tweeted.
Ahmed, who fled Pakistan in 2009 to seek asylum in Australia and gained fast-track citizenship in July, was picked for Australia's five-match limited-overs series in England after he made his debut in the Twenty20 series last week.
And according to Saturday's Die Burger newspaper, Campese will not be doing in-studio commentary for SuperSport on Saturday's Rugby Championship Test between the Wallabies and the Springboks.
SuperSport's media manager, Clinton van den Berg, confirmed that Campese has been temporarily suspended. He said SuperSport does not condone discrimination of any sort.
Campese denied that the tweets were racist or derogatory, claiming that is was understood in the wrong context and that he has never been racist in his life.
QUIZ: Tackle Sport24's highly addictive yet almost impossible quiz!
Campese, 50, lashed out at spin bowler Fawad Ahmed after he received permission from Cricket Australia to not wear a beer company logo on his uniform due to his Muslim faith.
Campese, who played 101 Tests for Australia, said Ahmed should "go home" if he did not want to wear the sponsor's logo on his playing shirt.
Earlier, former Test cricketer Doug Walters was quoted in Australian media as saying: "I think if he doesn't want to wear the team gear, he should not be part of the team."
Campese then wrote on Twitter: "Doug Walters tells Pakistan-born Fawad Ahmed: if you don't like the ... uniform, don't play for Australia Well said doug. Tell him to go home."
After Campese's initial tweet, he said he didn't care about Ahmed's religion but objected to his beliefs affecting sport in general.
"Well why did he come to Aussie for in the first place. A better life? Now he is telling people what he wants.! .... a lot more kids who would love to play for Australia. And they would t complain," Campese tweeted.
Ahmed, who fled Pakistan in 2009 to seek asylum in Australia and gained fast-track citizenship in July, was picked for Australia's five-match limited-overs series in England after he made his debut in the Twenty20 series last week.
And according to Saturday's Die Burger newspaper, Campese will not be doing in-studio commentary for SuperSport on Saturday's Rugby Championship Test between the Wallabies and the Springboks.
SuperSport's media manager, Clinton van den Berg, confirmed that Campese has been temporarily suspended. He said SuperSport does not condone discrimination of any sort.
Campese denied that the tweets were racist or derogatory, claiming that is was understood in the wrong context and that he has never been racist in his life.
