Trump renews clash with US sports world over national anthem

US President Donald Trump has renewed his clash with the US professional sports world, again calling for National Football League owners to fire the mostly black players who protest during the country's national anthem.

In a Sunday morning tweet, Trump also urged fans to boycott NFL games to pressure the league to fire or suspend players who show disrespect for "Flag and Country."

"If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast," Trump wrote. "Fire or suspend!"

In a second tweet, Trump said that the "league should back" fans who are upset about the protests.

Trump is spending the weekend at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and held no public events on Saturday.

Trump's latest Twitter salvo has intensified his spat with some of the biggest stars in US professional sports over his condemnation of NFL players protesting the national anthem.

The protests, which began last year, are aimed at drawing more attention to police violence against minorities in America following a spate of deadly police shootings of black men.

In a powerful display of unity during an NFL game between the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London, England, more than a dozen players from both teams knelt during the US national anthem.

NFL teams whose owners or CEOs have voiced their support of players’ free expression included the New England Patriots, New York Giants, Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks.

PressTV-Trump, black athletes step up fight

The US president is called a "bum" by African American NBA star slamming his derogatory remarks.

The row began on Friday at a Republican political rally in Alabama when Trump described activist NFL players -- mostly African Americans -- as "sons of b****es" who should lose their job for not standing during renditions of the national anthem.

On Saturday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Trump's first statements in Alabama revealed an "unfortunate lack of respect" for the NFL and its players. 

Also on Saturday, Stephen Curry, a National Basketball Association star and the top basketball player for California's Golden State Warriors, said he would not attend a traditional White House reception honoring the league's champion.

Several hours later, Trump hit back with a Twitter salvo. "Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!" he wrote.

Curry told a news conference in Oakland, California: "It's beneath the leader of a country to go that route."

"It's not what leaders do," he said.

Trump's clash with one of the biggest stars in the NBA drew a stinging response from across the NBA, with Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James among the first to react.

"U bum @StephenCurry30 already said he ain't going!" James wrote on Twitter. "So therefore ain't no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up."

The protests began last year when former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice.

The 29-year-old said he started his protests because he wanted to spark a nationwide debate on police violence against African Americans. Several more players have since joined in, nearly all of them black.

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