NFL Will Have 'Zero Tolerance' For Anti-Gay Slurs

The National Football League (NFL) has warned players, officials and staff members that it will have “zero tolerance” this season for the use of racial or anti-gay slurs.

The league is communicating the new policy in an officiating video being shown to teams during training camps, The Washington Post reported.

In the video, Dean Blandino, the NFL's vice president of officiating, tells the players: “We also want to stress that there will be zero tolerance for unsportsmanlike conduct, particularly verbal abuse directed at an opponent.”

A narrator adds: “As the most visible and influential sports entity, we have an obligation to set the standard for sportsmanship. The use of abusive, threatening or insulting language directed at opponents, teammates, game officials or representatives of the league is covered under unsportsmanlike conduct in the playing rules. This includes racial slurs, comments regarding sexual orientation or other verbal abuse. Actions such as these will result in 15-yard penalties and potential discipline. Coaches, game officials and other league personnel will be held to the same high standard.”

“No amount of emotion should give way to demeaning and offensive language or actions in our workplace,” Troy Vincent, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, says in the video. “That includes the locker room, on the practice field, during a game or when traveling as a team.”