LONDON —
English Premier League football players said Wednesday they will no longer take
the knee before every match in the upcoming season, following criticism that
the anti-racism gesture was losing its impact.
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In a Premier League
statement, club captains said that instead, they would bend before selected
games, “and in so doing we continue to show solidarity for a common cause”.
The league said it
supported the captains’ decision, and would elevate anti-racism messaging as
part of its “No Room for Racism” campaign — words that already feature on
players’ sleeves.
Premier League
players began taking the knee at the start of every game in June 2020, when the
season resumed following a
COVID shutdown, a month after the killing in the US
of George Floyd.
Ex-NFL quarterback
Colin Kaepernick started kneeling to protest against racial injustice in 2016,
and the gesture has become a familiar sight across a range of sports since
Floyd’s murder by a US police officer.
But several Premier
League players queried its continuing relevance — and some right-wing
politicians in Britain have criticized its identification with the Black Lives
Matter protest movement.
Wilfried Zaha, a
black striker for Crystal Palace, was an early dissident, labeling the gesture
“degrading” and opting to stand instead.
Last season,
Chelsea’s white defender Marcos Alonso decided to stand and point instead to
the anti-racism badge on his shirt sleeve.
Alonso’s then
team-mate Romelu Lukaku said football had to take “stronger” action in the
fight against racism, with abuse still rife against black footballers on social
media.
“Yeah, we are
taking the knee ... but sometimes after the game, you see another insult,”
Lukaku told CNN Sport in September last year.
Culture wars
But former
Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville criticized
the decision.
“It was the most
public demonstration to young people in this country that their heroes were
fighting inequality,” he wrote on Twitter.
“It’s something my
12 + 13 year old would comment on/notice before each game. Back to wearing
t-shirts once a season it is then!”, he added
Rather than every
match, Premier League players now intend to take the knee at this weekend’s
opening round of the season, and before dedicated “No Room for Racism” match
rounds in October and March.
The captains said
they will also observe it before Boxing Day fixtures, on the final day of the
season, and before the FA Cup and League Cup finals.
“We remain
resolutely committed to eradicate racial prejudice, and to bring about an
inclusive society with respect and equal opportunities for all,” they said in
the statement.
Sales of “No Room
For Racism” sleeve badges on replica shirts last season raised £119,000
($145,000) in royalties for the clubs.
They are donating
that sum to designated youth teams, with the Premier League matching the
amount, according to the statement.
The players’
gesture has been generally respected by fans before matches.
But sections of the
crowd at England games booed the players when they took the knee, prompting an
angry response from the national team manager Gareth Southgate.
Piara Powar, head
of anti-discrimination organization the Fare Network, told AFP last year that
taking the knee was still a meaningful act even if it had become embroiled in a
“culture war-type debate”.
“It is something
that is impactful,” he said. “If it wasn’t impactful, people wouldn’t be booing
it.”
But the
Championship, the second tier of top-flight English football, has already
started its season with Bristol City and Swansea City both saying their players
would no longer take the knee.
The act had become
diluted, the clubs said, and the Professional Footballers’ Association said its
members did not want the gesture to become “routine, so that it potentially
loses its impact”.
“We’ve spoken to players about this and what we’ve heard is
that they want to find a balance,” the players’ union chief executive Maheta
Molango said.
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