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More than 30,000 people have signed a petition opposing Prince Harry’s award created in honour of an American war hero.
Sports channel ESPN has announced that the Duke of Sussex will receive the Pat Tillman Award for his work with the Invictus Games.
The ESPY Award is named after former professional football player Pat Tillman, who gave up his football career to serve in the military after 9/11 and was killed in Afghanistan.
Launched on June 27, the petition calls on ESPN to “reconsider awarding the Pat Tillman Award to Prince Harry” and has garnered nearly 32,000 signatures.
The petition was created by Patti Mickel, who wrote that the award should be representative of Tillman’s values and “should honor someone who, like Tillman, has demonstrated unwavering dedication to his team and his country.”
The Duke of Sussex, 39, was chosen for the award because of his efforts to use sport to “change the world and make it more inclusive for marginalised and suffering communities”.
Harry founded the Invictus Games in 2014 to celebrate the sporting achievements of wounded, ill and injured service personnel.
The Change.org petition states: “Prince Harry, although a former military officer, has been involved in controversies that call into question his suitability for an honour of this magnitude.
“He was accused of endangering his squadron by publicly revealing military losses.
The petition refers to a story in Harry’s book Spare, in which he writes about using a Typhoon to target his father’s car during training.
He adds: “More recently, his role in the Invictus Games, a platform intended to celebrate the resilience and dedication of veterans, has been criticised as self-serving.”
Harry recently celebrated the anniversary of the Invictus Games with several events in the UK, including a thanksgiving ceremony and a mini-tour of Nigeria with his wife Meghan Markle.
Tillman’s mother, Mary, also criticised the decision to award the Duke the prize, saying she believed there were many more deserving recipients to choose from.
She told the Sunday Mail“I am shocked why they chose such a controversial and divisive person to receive this award.
“There are recipients who are much more appropriate. There are people who work in the veteran community and do extraordinary things to help veterans.
“These individuals do not have the money, resources, connections or privileges that Prince Harry has. I think these types of individuals deserve recognition.”
The IndependentHe has contacted a representative for Prince Harry for further comment.
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News Source : www.independent.co.uk
