It has been coming for quite some time but, on Thursday afternoon, it was confirmed that Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson would be departing the club.
The 33-year-old midfielder captained Liverpool to their first league title in 30 years in 2020, and has plied his trade at Anfield for the last 12 years.
His departure was confirmed this week and, after much speculation, it was confirmed that he would sign for Saudi Pro League side Al Ettifaq, managed by his ex-teammate Steven Gerrard.
Henderson will earn enormous wages at Ettifaq, and joins the mass movement of players to the Gulf state - but his move to Saudi Arabia has drawn widespread criticism.
The appalling human rights record of the country, and specifically towards the LGBTQ+ community, has ridely earned condemnation, and Henderson's decision to sign for a Saudi club is especially disappointing given his previous position as a champion for LGBTQ+ rights within football.
Watchful fans and experts noticed one particularly disappointing element of the video which announced Henderson's arrival at Al Ettifaq, which seems to sum up the 180 degree turn he has taken.
Announcement video for Jordan Henderson at Al Ettifaq
Al Ettifaq announced the arrival of England international Jordan Henderson at the club with a video on social media on Thursday afternoon.
A leader 💪🏻 A warrior ⚔️
We’re simply thrilled to have him ❤️💚
Henderson is ETTIFAQI 🟢✨#HendersonEttifaqi pic.twitter.com/GIj8kggxtn— Ettifaq Club (@Ettifaq_EN) July 27, 2023
After criticising Qatar's poor human rights record and treatment of the LGBTQ+ community ahead of last year's World Cup, Henderson has been accused of hypocrisy in following through with a move to Saudi Arabia, given their similar record.
In Saudi Arabia, same-sex sexual activity between men and between women is outlawed, as well as gender expression of transgender people, and these "offences" are, in theory, punishable by death.
Eagle eyed viewers noticed one detail in the announcement of Henderson's arrival at Al Ettifaq (perhaps coincidental, perhaps not so coincidental) which sums up the disappointing nature of the move.
During the video, shots of Henderson wearing the captain's armband for Liverpoool were interwoven with shots of him lining out for Sunderland and England, to sum up his position as a natural leader.
However, some of the shots were in black and white - coincidentally, these were predominantly the shots which displayed Henderson wearing the rainbow laces branded captain's armband in support of the LGBTQ+ community.
Naturally, fans were disappointed with the u-turn from Henderson, and felt that the choice to black out the rainbow armband summed up the situation he had placed himself in.
It would appear that Ettifaq have made a stylistic choice to grey out the colour of most of Jordan Henderson’s captain armbands in this video. I’m sure it has nothing to do with some of them featuring the rainbow LGBTQ+ flag though… https://t.co/Jl1eCEPqfx
— Danny Corcoran (@calcio_danny) July 27, 2023
It seems as though you're having some kind of computer glitch.
Your media guys have "accidentally" greyed out the 🏳️🌈 armband in EVERY photo you've used in the video.
I'm sure this will have been accidental, definitely not on purpose, so here you go....
You can use this one. pic.twitter.com/vXiNYTFjfq— 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝘆𝗻𝗲 #NUFC (@ToonMouthTyne) July 27, 2023
I wonder why they would blatantly discolour the captain’s armband…
Ettifaq are doing everything to help Jordan Henderson quench a cigarette on his reputation as an ally of LGBTQ+. Zero fucks given, Henderson’s people will say money talks… https://t.co/eqCBJkRXb6— Dale O'Donnell (@ODonnellDale) July 27, 2023
Just incase anyone wanted to know this is the lovely armband they’ve blacked out pic.twitter.com/0AhovK2n1O
— Ciaran Doherty (@CiaranDoherty23) July 27, 2023
Thomas Hitzlsperger, one of the few high-profile footballers to come out as gay, took to Twitter to criticise Jordan Henderson's move to Ettifaq.
Hitzlsperger came out as gay three months after his retirement from football, having previously played for Aston Villa, West Ham, and Everton in the Premier League.
The German said, "So Jordan Henderson finally gets his move to Saudi Arabia. Fair play to him, he can play wherever he wants to play. Curious to know though how the new brand JH will look like. The old one is dead! I did believe for a while that this support for the LGBTQ+ community would be genuine. Silly me..."
So Jordan Henderson finally gets his move to 🇸🇦. Fair play to him, he can play wherever he wants to play. Curious to know though how the new brand JH will look like. The old one is dead! I did believe for a while that his support for the 🏳️🌈 community would be genuine. Silly me…
— Thomas Hitzlsperger (@ThomasHitz) July 27, 2023
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