More than 30,000 people have signed a petition against Prince Harry being awarded an award created to honour an American war hero.
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.
The petition, launched on June 27, calls on ESPN to “rethink awarding the Pat Tillman Award to Prince Harry,” and has garnered nearly 32,000 signatures.
The petition was created by Patty Mikel, who wrote that the award should be representative of Pat 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 for his efforts to use sport “to change the world and make it more inclusive for marginalized and disadvantaged communities.”
Harry founded the Invictus Games in 2014 to celebrate the sporting achievements of wounded, sick and injured people.
the change.org The petition said: “Prince Harry, although a former military officer, has been involved in controversies that raise questions about his suitability to receive an honour of this magnitude.
He faced accusations of endangering his squad by publicly revealing military killings.
The petition refers to a story in Harry’s book, Spare, where he wrote that he used a Typhoon jet to target his father’s car during training.
“More recently, his role in the Invictus Games, a platform that aims to celebrate the resilience and dedication of veterans, has been criticised as selfish,” he adds.
Harry recently celebrated the anniversary of the Invictus Games with a number of events in the UK including a Thanksgiving service 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 that in her opinion there were too many deserving candidates to choose from.
She said to Mail on Sunday“I am shocked as to why they would choose such a controversial and divisive individual to receive the award.
“There are more suitable recipients. There are individuals who work in the veterans community and do tremendous things to help veterans.
“These individuals do not have the money, resources, connections or privilege that Prince Harry has. I feel that such individuals should be recognised.”
The IndependentI have reached out to Prince Harry’s representative for further comment.
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