Coaches, pundits, and teams agree that the Premier League must continue to fight for equality after the decision to stop taking a knee before matches.
Premier League captains recently announced the decision to no longer kneel before every game, limiting the show of support for the Black Lives Matter movement to certain matches.
According to the Premier League announcement, players will take a knee during the opening match, during dedicated No Room for Racism match rounds in October and March, on Boxing Day matches after the World Cup, and on the final match day of the season.
Coaches, players, and clubs the world over are reacting to the news.
Former Arsenal player and current coach Mikel Arteta hopes to keep a strong message of equality, saying,
“That hopefully it is equally productive and we should still send a very important message that as a club we want to obviously express that equality is a massive thing for us, that everybody is welcome in our football club, in our industry hopefully and we need to maintain to be strong on that message.”
Former Manchester United great Gary Neville points out that the demonstration may have meant more to future generations than the team captains realized.
Speaking of Man U, the Red Devils have since released a counter-statement, officially declaring the club’s intention to continue taking the knee.
“All Manchester United players fully support the decision to continue taking the knee in the Premier League this season.
We have said many times as individuals, a team and a club that we are united against racism. We need to keep demonstrating that message – now more than ever. We hope these actions continue to have an impact and lead to positive change, especially with fans back supporting us in the stadium.
Racist abuse in any form on any platform cannot be tolerated and together we must keep fighting it.”
Featured Image: Pexels/Kampus Production/PremierLeague/DM
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