U.S. Football team must keep God off the pitch

An American football team from the bible belt has been prevented from spreading the word of God during a game on Friday. The Birmingham Steeldogs, based in Alabama, had been planning to carry biblical texts on the back of their jerseys for their home game against Louisville Fire, a first in US sports history. The Steeldogs' name would be replaced on the jerseys by the Old Testament strongman Samson, the name of a book in the bible would replace the player's name and the number would refer to the chapter and the text. Jersey number 12 would become James, chapter 1, verse 2: "I consider it pure joy, my brother, whenever you face trials of many kinds." But league officials, based in New York, invoked a rule preventing teams from making arbitrary changes and threatened a $1 000 fine per jersey, and a further $50 000 for conduct detrimental to the game.