The Premier League has announced that players from all 20 clubs will continue to take a knee to protest against racism ahead of matches for the forthcoming 2021/22 campaign.
Both players and staff have took the knee before matches since June 2020, following the tragic death of George Floyd in the USA.
This decision has been “wholeheartedly supported” by the Premier League, but strongly too by Manchester United with most players revealing a club statement via social media, as seen below from skipper Harry Maguire.
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A statement from the Premier League read, as per Sky Sports: “We feel now, more than ever, it is important for us to continue to take the knee as a symbol of our unity against all forms of racism.
“We remain absolutely committed to our singular objective of eradicating racial prejudice wherever it exists, to bring about a global society of inclusion, respect and equal opportunities for all.”
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This, of course, comes off the back of racist abuse aimed at three England internationals after the country failed to beat Italy in the Euro 2020 final. Manchester United duo Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were both racially abused after missing their penalties in the shootout, as did Arsenal youngster Bukayo Saka.
It happened again when racism was sprayed over a mural of all three players – painted in their support after the vile abuse they suffered online.
We’ve seen fans of certain clubs oppose to this in the past — and all the best to them. Football has no place for racism and sadly there are too many people who pretend it’s not an issue in society.
All Red. All equal.
Racism was not sprayed over the mural. Fabrication.
I wasn’t talking about the Rashford mural in Manchester. This one was defaced with racist graffiti: https://strettynews.com/2021/07/18/mural-honouring-rashford-sancho-and-saka-defaced-with-racist-graffiti/