‘We have the power to reach people’: Bayern Munich planning protest over George Floyd death
The Bayern Munich squad are planning a joint protest over George Floyd’s death, with Joshua Kimmich saying players “feel the responsibility to use their power to reach other people”.
Football has been as influenced by the issue as every other aspect of society, and the weekend saw Jadon Sancho, Marcus Thuram, Achraf Hakimi and Weston McKennie all make public gestures of solidarity with protestors in the US.
The German federation has said it will not sanction players for what would otherwise be seen as political protests, given the context.
Kimmich has revealed that the Bayern players now plan to follow suit, and have discussed the idea as a squad.
“As a football player you have a big power in this world,” Kimmich told media in a Zoom interview. “My opinion is we should feel this responsibility and say something like Sancho did.
“It’s good that it’s not just one player. Maybe it is also an option to say something as a team. Football is like a role model because normally in normal life but especially in football it is not possible that there is something like racism.
“We are one world, one club, one football team. It doesn’t matter if you are black or white. We as footballers, like with Sancho, have a lot of power to reach other people, to be role models and to say something. What we say to people outside gives us a big chance to make a statement.
“We discussed it and maybe we can do something. We maybe have to do something because we cannot give something like this a place.”
