The half-knee movement before the start of the Premier League football matches will not become a routine matter before every match, but the anti-racism gesture will be allowed on stadiums during certain moments during the season.
Premier League club leaders met last week to discuss whether they would continue the movement that was launched in 2020 during an American rugby match in support of the “Black Lives Matter” movement, which emerged after the death of American citizen George Floyd in the United States at the hands of the police.
During the meeting, opinions varied, with some team leaders speaking on behalf of their colleagues and remarking that the gesture had lost its power and might even become divisive. Some spoke of the movement having political connotations, although its goal has been made clear to everyone, which is to highlight the need for greater equality and the rejection of racial discrimination, according to what was published by the British newspaper, The Guardian.
The gesture is inspired by former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other American athletes, who followed him by quite a few players who took a half-knee before games or while playing the national anthem, to be widely adopted in tournaments and sports in Europe and other places. other.
The gesture is inspired by former NFL star Colin Kaepernick
The Premier League players continued to perform the action before each match, and players did the same in many matches in England’s lower division leagues.
The decision to limit the number of times the blocking move came after a number of black players began dismissing its performance as an “empty gesture” that would do little to make real change.
For example, Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha, who grew up in England but plays for the Ivory Coast national team, stopped performing the movement in early 2021. The player said the protest movement “has become part of the pre-match routine”, according to the newspaper. American New York Times.
While the team leaders did not reach consensus last week, they did so at their last meeting, as the clubs agreed that this movement would be allowed to be performed during the first and last rounds of matches, and the anti-racism rounds in October and March, and a number of specific occasions with the aim of communicating a message that Racism and any form of discrimination has no place in football or society.
The Premier League Players’ Association said: “We have decided to select key moments for the movement’s performance during the season to highlight our unity against all forms of racism, and in doing so continue to demonstrate solidarity for a common cause. We remain firmly committed to eliminating racial prejudice and creating an inclusive society that respects equal opportunity for all.” .
Kick It Out CEO Tony Burnett said: “We support the players in whatever they decide, but we want to make sure we move forward. The reasons that prompted the players to make that move, because these problems have not disappeared until now.”
Emad Hassan
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Victims of racism on the football pitch – from Eto’o to Balotelli
Racism out of government
In an unprecedented situation, the match between Paris Saint-Germain and its Turkish guest, Basaksehir, in the Champions League was suspended, after the fourth referee, Sebastian Coltescu, directed a racist insult at Cameroonian assistant coach Pierre Wibo. The situation made the players leave the field and refused to resume the match. An incident that drew European and international condemnation.
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Victims of racism on the football pitch – from Eto’o to Balotelli
Balotelli’s tears
Italian star Mario Balotelli, one of the players most exposed to racism from the stands. As happened with him in this meeting within the local league between his club Brescia and Verona team. Where some Verona fans imitated monkey cries, directed racist insults against him, which triggered a wide campaign of solidarity with Balotelli.
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Victims of racism on the football pitch – from Eto’o to Balotelli
Dani Alves
Brazilian Dani Alves, who has been a professional for many years in the ranks of Barcelona, has been repeated racist incidents against him by fans of some clubs in the Spanish League, where bananas were thrown at him, in addition to other shouts and insults. But his reaction was to peel the banana and eat it, before he resumed playing.
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Victims of racism on the football pitch – from Eto’o to Balotelli
Roberto Carlos
Throwing bananas also targeted the famous Brazilian star, and one of the most famous left-back positions in the world, Roberto Carlos. Carlos, who lived the height of his fame in the ranks of Real Madrid, later also played with the Russian club Ange Makhachkala. One of his famous shots is how he left the stadium, in 2011, and refused to resume playing, after throwing bananas at him.
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Victims of racism on the football pitch – from Eto’o to Balotelli
Samuel Eto’o
One of the most famous personalities who experienced the bitterness of racism is what Cameroonian star Samuel Eto’o was exposed to, who went through several professional stations, perhaps the most prominent of which was his career in Barcelona, Spain, and he was forced more than once to cut play and insisted on getting out of matches, due to racist chants from the opponent’s audience. .
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Victims of racism on the football pitch – from Eto’o to Balotelli
Kalidou Coulibaly leaves the stadium
Senegalese captain Kalidou Coulibaly, a professional with Italian club Napoli, faced in 2018, racist insults by some Inter Milan fans. What created a wide wave of solidarity with the player. The Portuguese Ronaldo participated in it, as well as the Egyptian Mohamed Salah, who at the time posted on Twitter a picture of him with Coulibaly, and commented on it by saying: “No to racism in football or anywhere.”
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Victims of racism on the football pitch – from Eto’o to Balotelli
Evra and Suarez
Uruguayan Luis Suarez, then Liverpool player, faces Frenchman Evra, captain of Manchester United. The confrontation in October 2011. One of the most famous moments in the English Premier League. Suarez refused to shake hands with Evra before the match. During the match he told him: “Don’t touch me. I don’t talk to a black person.” Suarez was punished that day with a suspension of eight matches and a fine.
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Victims of racism on the football pitch – from Eto’o to Balotelli
Antonio Rudiger
Germany and Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger wrote on his Twitter account: “It is a pity that racism still exists and we are in 2019”. The player wrote this after he was racially insulted by some Tottenham Hotspur fans, in a Premier League match.
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Victims of racism on the football pitch – from Eto’o to Balotelli
In German stadiums
German stadiums, in turn, were not immune from such events. Including a match in the German Cup competition between Schalke 04 and Hertha Berlin, in February 2020. The defender of Hertha Berlin and the German Olympic team, Jordan Torunariga, a German of Nigerian origin, is exposed to racism from some Schalke 04 fans, who imitate the shouts of monkeys behind him.
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Victims of racism on the football pitch – from Eto’o to Balotelli
wholesale resignations
Even at the national level, racism was present. A heavy loss for Bulgaria against England, by six, in 2019, in the European Nations Cup qualifiers, and the end of Bulgaria’s hope of qualifying. But this was not the biggest scandal. Rather, the racism of some fans against the England players, including Raheem Sterling (photo), and also showing what is known as Hitler’s Nazi salute. The scandal led to the resignation of all members of the Bulgarian Football Federation and coach Blakov. Prepared by: F.Y
