WATCH: NFL commissioner says players ‘should stand for the national anthem’

NFL players will be encouraged to defend the national anthem at the start of football matches, the head of the journalists said today.

After two days of meeting with the owners of each NFL team, representatives of the union of the players and the players themselves, the NFL reiterated its decision to maintain its existing policy not to oblige players to stand during the anthem. Goodell said yesterday that the League would not indicate a rule that would penalize players who refuse to defend the anthem.

“We believe that everyone should represent the national anthem,” he told journalists at a press conference today. “It is an important part of our policy. It is also an important part of our game in which we are all proud. And it is also important for us to honor our flag and our country and I think that our fans expect what we do this.”

The remarks of Goodell came after President Donald Trump continued his criticism of the NFL this morning. On Twitter, Trump said: “The NFL decided that it would not force players to defend the game of our national anthem. Total lack of respect for our big country!”

After the former quarter of the 49ers of San Francisco, Colin Kaepernick, knelt during the anthem last year to protest against the police killings of non-armed black men, dozens of other players joined it to attract greater attention to social and racial injustice. Last month, Trump said the NFL should dismiss players who did not defend the anthem.

The players “do not do so to be disrespectful towards the flag,” said Goodell today. “But they also understand how it is interpreted.”

Goodell also said the league wanted to stay outside the political arena on the issue.

“We are not trying to enter politics,” he told journalists. “What we are looking to do is continue to bring people to focus on football.”