Quidditch becomes 'Quadball', leaving J.K. Rowling behind

Citing concerns and objections to author's trademarks on transgender issues, major sports groups have officially distanced themselves from their roots" Harry Potter".

Quidditch, the sport of boarding school wizards riding broomsticks in "Harry Potter", will become "Quadball" for humans who play it in the real life, its main organizations announced on Tuesday.

The groups cited financial hurdles imposed by Warner Bros., the producer of the film series, owning the Quidditch trademark, as well as a wish to " distancing" from J.K. Rowling, the books' author, and what they called her "anti-trans stances", referring to her controversial statements about gender identity made in recent years.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0"> "It's a bold move, and for me personally, there's definitely some nostalgia for the original name," said Alex Benepe, who helped found the real sport in 2005, in a press release "But from a long-term development perspective, I am convinced that it is an intelligent decision for the future which will allow the sport to develop without limits."

The path to the Decision began in December, when American Quidditch and Major League Quidditch - the young wings esse and sports professional - have announced their intention to choose and register a new name. Their statement emphasized “sponsorship and broadcast opportunities” that were missed due to licensing issues. Benepe congratulated Warner Bros. for being "remarkably permissive" in allowing a league to operate and sell tickets under the name.

He added, however, that Warner Bros. banned the sale of merchandise that used the word "Quidditch" and that the sport had been forced to sacrifice important business opportunities. Mr Benepe pleaded at the time - before the latest political controversy with Ms Rowling - for a name change.

"I love Harry Potter and I I'll always love it, but if our sport needs Harry Potter to survive it doesn't have to be so great - and I think it's great and I think our players too,” he said. /p>

Nevertheless, on Tuesday, the International Quidditch Association, the sport's highest governing body, cited Ms Rowling's "anti-trans stances" as a primary reason for change the name of the sport.

"We've tried to be clear that those are the two reasons," said Jack McGovern, a spokesman for the American Quidditch and Major League Quidditch, in an interview "We did not intend to make a value judgment on which reason was more important than the other."

Q matches uidditch frequently appeared as scenes in the Harry Potter books and films. The real-life version of it includes many elements from Mrs. Rowling's game imagination: driving broomsticks, throwing balls through hoops, and having to evade bludgers and eventually catch the Golden Snitch. In real life, a bludger is a rubber dodgeball, rather than a flying iron ball, and the snitch is a tennis ball attached to a person, as in flag football.

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Thousands of people are playing the game in over 40 countries,