Western Michigan sparks controversy with Arabic jersey during NCAA college football kickoff

A Western Michigan player's jersey is grabbing the attention of fans instead of his play after the college football kickoff last weekend.

A rivalry game between Michigan State University and Western Michigan University saw the Spartans win 23-6 at home, but one Broncos player stood out among the crowd in the losing effort.

'This is still America right.'

Along with wearing the somewhat unique No. 0, it was not Mustafi Al-Garawi's two tackles that viewers took note of, but rather that the nameplate on his jersey was written in Arabic.

An East Tennessee State transfer, the senior defensive tackle submitted a request to Western Michigan in the summer asking if he could play his final season with Arabic writing on the back of his jersey.

According to Detroit News, Al-Garawi was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after his father was granted U.S. citizenship for rebelling against his own country (Iraq) during Saddam Hussein's rule. Rashid Al-Garawi allegedly assisted U.S. forces in the Second Gulf War.

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Western Michigan head coach Lance Taylor and school officials approved the Arabic writing, seemingly following an NCAA rule that allows players to "celebrate or memorialize people, events or other causes, subject to school and/or conference approval," according to CBS Sports in 2020.

The messages can vary from player to player.

After a college football fan page with 150,000 followers posted an image of Al-Garawi's jersey, it was met with mostly negative reactions from fans.

"That's awful," one Texan wrote on X.

"Why is that cool. This is America. Nobody can read it," another user said.

"This is still America right," another fan replied.

At least a half-dozen X users called for Al-Garawi's deportation, while some other fans even called the writing "gay."

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Charles Du's #49 jersey of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Photo by CFP/Getty Images

While this may be the first time a player name has been written in Arabic in an NCAA football game, there have already been two players who have had their names written in Chinese.

First, Arizona State University's He Peizhang, aka Jackson He, had his name written in Chinese in 2020. He came to the U.S. from Guangdong, China, at 17 years old, according to South China Morning Post.

In 2025, Charles Du of Notre Dame grabbed headlines and social media attention when he had his name written in Chinese during the Sugar Bowl on January 2.

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