A professional baseball team has chosen to forfeit a game after some of its players refused to participate in the club’s Pride Night.

York Revolution had arranged for players to wear uniforms with rainbow sleeves during their game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Thursday as part of the team’s 11th annual Pride Night. However, the Revolution said several players had refused to wear the jerseys and the club cancelled the game. The team instead made the night “a free and fun celebration of recognition and inclusion”.

“Unfortunately, several of our players have refused to wear the scheduled Pride Night jersey and the club decided that hosting the event is more important than forcing players to wear jerseys they are not comfortable with and playing the game,” the team said.

“As a result, and out of respect for the Pride Community and the York community as a whole, the York Revolution has decided that the game on Thursday, June 18 will be forfeited and that Pride Night will continue on as the feature element of the evening at WellSpan Park.”

The Revolution and Blue Crabs play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and are not affiliated with any major league clubs.

The players’ refusal to wear the jersey is not entirely a surprise, as many baseball players come from conservative, religious backgrounds. Major League Baseball issued a statement this week critical of players who wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night hats after an incident at a San Francisco Giants game.

During Friday’s game against the Chicago Cubs, Giants pitchers Landen Roupp and JT Brubaker wrote Bible verses on their Pride caps. Another Giants pitcher, Sam Hentges, chose not to wear the cap at all.