Washington Redskins to retire controversial team name following review

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The Washington Redskins American football team has said it will retire its name, long criticised as racist.

In a statement, the team said it would “be retiring the Redskins name and logo upon completion of a review” demanded by its sponsors.

Its major sponsors recently threatened to pull funding from the NFL team unless it considered renaming itself.

The Washington DC-based team has faced years of pressure over a name seen as offensive to Native Americans.

Team owner Dan Synder had been a boyhood fan of the team – which was named the Redskins in 1933 when it was still based in Boston – and had vowed to never change the name of the 87-year-old team.

But amid protests over police brutality and racism, major sponsors FedEx, Nike, Pepsi and Bank of America all called on Mr Snyder to consider finally changing the name.

Last week, Amazon, Walmart and Target, Nike and and other retail stores removed team merchandise from their websites. ESPN also said it would stop using the team logo, which depicts a Native American man.

The announcement does not immediately change the name of the team, and a new one must be chosen before the 2020 season begins in September. The team’s official website maintains the current the team name, as does the team’s official Twitter handle.