Kick It Out urge all players to take a knee in show of solidarity on racism after George Floyd death
All Premier League players should take a knee in protest against racism when the season restarts, the chairman of Kick It Out has said.
Sanjay Bhandari’s appeal comes as Fifa urged authorities to use “common sense” when considering whether to punish players for protesting against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.
The German FA (DFB) said they were considering sanctions against Jadon Sancho, Achraf Hakimi, Weston McKennie and Marcus Thuram for protesting during last weekend’s Bundesliga fixtures, with Thuram taking a knee after scoring for Borussia Monchengladbach.
The gesture became iconic when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem in 2016 in silent protest at police brutality and racism, sparking a period of activism in the NFL.
The death of Floyd has sparked widespread unrest across the US, with a number of sports stars expressing their solidarity with protestors. He died despite repeatedly warning officers that he could not breathe when he was being held down with a knee on his neck and his death has been ruled a homicide.
Boxer Floyd Mayweather has offered to pay for the funeral of the 46-year-old, while Tiger Woods said police had “crossed the line”.
Liverpool’s first-team squad all took a knee around the centre circle at Anfield during yesterday’s training session, while Manchester United pair Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba both posted powerful anti-racism messages on social media.
FIFPro, the global players’ union, tweeted an image of Sancho and Thuram protesting, accompanied by the message: “We support each and every professional football player that speaks out about racism and social injustice.”
Sancho was booked after revealing a ‘Justice for George Floyd’ shirt after scoring in Borussia Dortmund’s thrashing of Paderborn on Sunday, while team-mate Hakimi displayed the same message during the game. Schalke’s American midfielder McKennie wore an armband with a ‘Justice for George’ message.
Kick It Out’s Bhandari, who chairs the anti-discrimination organisation, said he hopes the DFB show leniency to the four and says all Premier League players, black or white, should consider protesting on the pitch.
“If you score a goal and take a knee, could everyone do that?” Bhandari told the Guardian. “Not just the black players. The white players too — everyone.
“Every player should do it. It should be teams doing it. Racism’s not about black players or brown fans. It’s about all of us. Racism corrodes society and we’re all hurt by it. Everyone should want to demonstrate their solidarity and disgust. I would like to encourage the players to protest if they want to, but I would also like to encourage them to do it in a way that doesn’t expose them to unnecessary sanction.
“If they could do that by taking a knee, well, if every player did that it would be quite a powerful message. I would be interested to hear what the authorities thought, whether it would constitute a breach of the rules. To me, that is about demonstrating solidarity.”
Since 2014, players have been prohibited from displaying messages, but Fifa said they understood “the depth of sentiment” over Floyd’s death and urged competition organisers, including the FA, to consider the context before issuing sanctions.
Woods asked protesters to raise their objections with “constructive, honest conversations”. The 15-time Major winner said: “Our law enforcement train so diligently to understand how, when and where to use force [but this] shocking tragedy clearly crossed that line. We can make points without burning the neighbourhoods that we live in.”
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