Carl Frampton says he would have been 'disappointed' to fight under 'neutral' replacement for Ulster Banner
Carl Frampton has said he would have been “a little bit disappointed” to have had to fight under a “neutral” replacement for the Ulster Banner.
The retired Belfast pugilist was commenting in the wake of moves to replace the long-standing flag of Team NI at the Commonwealth Games with something more “inclusive” – a proposal that has since been dropped.
The former featherweight world champion, who hails from the loyalist-dominated Tiger’s Bay district, has previously fought under the tricolour for Ireland.
He has not competed in the Commonwealth Games.
He told the BBC he had been “very, very proud” to wear the tricolour on his singlet, “and never once did I did I have any objections to that”.
He went on to say that if he had the chance to fight in the Commonwealth Games, “I would still fight for them under a so-called neutral flag, or whatever you want to call it, but I would have to be honest as well: I'd be a little bit disappointed.”
That is because the Ulster Banner “represents me”.
He added: “You can't get a Northern Irish passport, but if you could, I would have one.
"First and foremost, I see myself as a person from Northern Ireland.
"If you want to call me Irish, that's absolutely fine as well.
"If you want to call me British, that's fine as well.
"And in some way, they identify as all three, Northern Irish, Irish and British.”
He also said: “In my opinion, and this may not be the opinion of other people, I think this is a non-issue and it is being made into something that it shouldn’t be.
“It is becoming political, it is a big political story now and this is about sport.
"We always say keep politics out of sport but people do like to drag it in.”
Read the News Letter’s coverage of the recent flag saga here.