The Toronto Blue Jays have apologized for Anthony Santander's Islamophobic Instagram posts that criticized U.S. Senator-electAbdul El-Sayed.
On Thursday, Nov. 12, the club posted a statement attributed to President and CEO Mark Shapiro to their social media channels. Toronto said it had conversations with members of the city's Muslim community to reflect on the incident, which happened after national elections in the United States.
"The Blue Jays are deeply sorry to the Muslim community and our fans for the pain and harm these Islamophobic posts have caused," the statement said. "We will work with leaders in Muslim communities to fight against all forms of hate."
The statement continued by saying the incident was an "opportunity to listen and learn"
that "reaffirms our beliefs and values as an organization."
"We condemn Islamophobia and all forms of hate."
Two days earlier, at the General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins expressed concern over the right fielder's actions.
“There really aren't words to express my level of disappointment with him making those comments. I've expressed that to him," he said, according to Sportsnet reporter Ben Nicholson-Smith, "... anything exacerbating some level of anti-Islamic hate is just extremely concerning, extremely disappointing."
The official apology comes after the club released a previous response to Santander's Instagram stories that criticized El-Sayed, who won a highly contested race for U.S. Senator in Michigan and in doing so became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. Screenshots of a video showed a caption that read, "America voted for Sharia (law) last night!" Another post seen in screenshots had a caption on the video that said, "Islam is not peaceful."
“Baseball is for everyone," said the initial statement, which was attributed to a team spokesperson, "and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark. Individual comments do not represent our organization’s values and beliefs.”
The previous response received criticism for not apologizing and not taking a strong enough stance against Islamophobia.
Santander has yet to comment publicly.
The 32-year-old did not play for Toronto last season as the Blue Jays went 79-83 and failed to make the playoffs. He has been struggling with shoulder injuries and had surgery in February.
The Venezuela native was limited to just 54 regular season games in 2025, the first year of a five-year, $92.5 million contract, due to a left shoulder subluxation. He returned in time to play in five playoff games, but a back injury forced his removal from the ALCS roster, ending his season. The Blue Jays made it to the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.
Contributing: Gabe Lacques
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Blue Jays apologize for Anthony Santander's posts, condemn Islamophobia
