England manager Gareth Southgate has spoken about why his squad may reconsider taking the knee before games.
The act of taking the knee, which became a regular occurrence before matches in the UK following last year’s resumption after the pandemic, has been done to show solidarity with the ongoing racial struggles occurring both in the United Kingdom and across the world.
However, since fans have returned to stadiums, the act has been booed by some sections on more than one occasion.
This happened during England’s 1-0 win over Austria, leading Southgate to speaking out after the game.
“What has happened tonight probably means I need to have another conversation with the players first and foremost because I need see how they feel about it and that’s an important discussion for us to have,” he said.
“I know there was some concern in the past in March that we were losing some of the impact, so I think after what has happened tonight we need to consider whether we continue to do the same thing, whether we do something different and I’m sure the players will have a really good view on that.”
“It’s not something on behalf of our black players that I wanted to hear because it feels as though it is a criticism of them.
“I think we have got a situation where some people seem to think it is a political stand that they don’t agree with. That’s not the reason the players are doing it. We are supporting each other.”
Featured image credit: Getty
