US: Georgia governor slams MLB for relocating All-Star Game

Major League Baseball decision comes after civil rights groups and legislators rebuked new Georgia voting restrictions.

The Republican governor of the US state of Georgia has slammed Major League Baseball (MLB) after the league announced it would relocate this year’s All-Star Game and MLB draft over the state’s new restrictive voting law. Signed late last month, the legislation disproportionately disenfranchises Black voters in Georgia, which has a history of racial discrimination – and it has drawn widespread rebuke from local communities, rights advocates, legislators and companies. “I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft,” MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred said in a statement on Friday. The events had been scheduled to take place in Atlanta.