US Baseball Team Cleveland Indians Changes Name To 'Guardians' Amid Controversy

US Baseball Team Cleveland Indians Changes Name to 'Guardians' Amid Controversy

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2021) The US Major League Baseball (MLB) team Cleveland Indians has changed its name to the "Guardians" after being criticized for its name by Native Americans, the team announced in a video on Friday.

"There's always been Cleveland, that's the best part of our name, and now it's time to unite as one family, one community, who build the next era for this team and this city, to keep watch and guard what makes this game the greatest... together, we are all Cleveland Guardians," the video, posted on Twitter, said.

Native American activists have criticized the Cleveland team for its choice of name for being offensive to them. The team repeatedly denied it intend to disparage Native Americans.

The team's mascot, Chief Wahoo, was removed from the player's uniforms in 2019 for being a stereotypical depiction of a Native American, featuring red skin and a feather in the hair.

The team announced in 2020 that it would change the name after the 2021 season as the Washington Redskins football announced they would review the future use of the own name as well.