Euro 2020: Why are England & other teams being booed for ‘taking the knee’?

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The likes of Gareth Southgate have defended the symbolic gesture of taking the knee, but England players are still being booed for doing it

Premier League taking the knee against racism has been a regular sight for almost a year, with the England squad deciding to continue the show of solidarity at Euro 2020.

However, some England fans have booed the gesture during Euro 2020 warm-up fixtures against Austria and Romania. There were more boos at Wembley during England’s Euro 2020 opener against Croatia as well, though they were eventually drowned out by applause from other supporters.

So why are England being booed for taking the knee, and what have the team said about it? Goal takes a look.

Why are England being booed for taking the knee?

Some England fans have booed the gesture of taking the knee as they believe it to be a political act.

The FA, however, have stated that taking the knee in solidarity with the fight to achieve racial equality is not related to any singular political school of thought.

“They are doing this as a mechanism of peacefully protesting against discrimination, injustice and inequality,” the FA said in a statement to fans.

“This is personally important to the players and the values the team collectively represents. This gesture of unity and fighting against inequality can be traced back as far as the 18th century.

“It is not new, and English football has made it very clear that it does not view this as being aligned to a political organisation or ideology. There can be no doubt as to why the players are taking the knee and what it represents in a footballing context.”

Other fans also erroneously believe that taking the knee and Black Lives Matter is linked to the radical left-wing ideas of Marxism.

What is the significance of taking the knee?

Historically, kneeling has been a way to show silent solidarity in support of human rights amid political turmoil.

Colin Kaepernick was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr when he kneeled during the U.S. national anthem as a means to protest police brutality and anti-Black racism within the United States.

The murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020 incited strong support and solidarity from athletes and sports figures worldwide, with players across the Premier League, Bundesliga, MLS and more following in Kaepernick’s lead and taking a knee.

What have the England managers & players said?

The likes of Southgate and several England players such as Jordan Henderson, Tyrone Mings and Marcus Rashford have defended taking the knee.

“I did hear it,” Southgate said when asked if he heard England fans booing the gesture before their pre-Euro 2020 friendly against Austria.

“It’s not something on behalf of our Black players I wanted to hear because it feels as though it’s a criticism of them. I think we have got a situation where some people seem to think it’s a political stand that they don’t agree with. That’s not the reason the players are doing it. We’re supporting each other. I was pleased that was drowned out by the majority of the crowd.

“I think the most important thing for our players to know is all their team-mates and all the staff are very supportive. I think the majority of people understand it. I think some people aren’t quite understanding the message.”

Premier League kneeling

Tyrone Mings said in a press conference before the fixture against Scotland: “At the same time, at Wembley, there was a hugely positive reaction to us taking the knee as well and I don’t think that should be overshadowed by the minority that refuses to accept what the reasons are or don’t agree with them.”

England midfielder and Liverpool captain Henderson said that the booing highlighted a bigger problem within society: “If there’s still people booing because we’re standing together against racism, then there really still is a problem and we’ve still got to fight it and stand together on that.

“It shows even more that we have to keep going, keep fighting it. From our side, it’s about being together and doing what we think is right – and that’s what we feel is right.

“I think, as players, we’ve made it very clear that we all stand together against racism. That’s the reason that we continue to take the knee, and have done over the last few weeks.”

Meanwhile Rashford, who has been active in his fight in combating racism and who has also been a repeated target of online abuse, said of the boos overshadowing the game: “It’s something that we can’t control. For us we believe it’s the right thing to do so we’re going to continue to do it.”

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