Wilfried Zaha to stop taking the knee as 'degrading' gesture 'no longer enough'

Premier League footballer Wilfried Zaha says he will no longer take the knee as he believes the protest has lost its impact.

Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha said he felt taking a knee was “degrading” and suggested players “stand tall” in the fight to end racial inequality faced by black people.

He was echoed by Brentford striker Ivan Toney, who said he believed players were being “used as puppets” in the anti-racism movement in football.

Players across the English professional leagues started kneeling before kick-off when football resumed in June after the first coronavirus lockdown, to highlight racial injustice, police brutality and systemic discrimination against black people.

The decision came amid global protests sparked by the death of George Floyd while in police custody in May last year.

England manager Gareth Southgate believes the gesture is still hugely powerful and has not lost its message, but racist abuse of footballers on social media has been prevalent in recent weeks with several teams, including Brentford last weekend, opting to no longer take a knee

Speaking to the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit, Zaha said the gesture was “no longer enough”.

The 28-year-old said: “I’ve said before that I feel like taking the knee is degrading and stuff because growing up my parents just let me know that I should be proud to be black no matter what and I feel like we should just stand tall.

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“I feel like taking the knee now, it’s becoming… we do it before games and even sometimes people forget that we have to do it before games.

“Trying to get the meaning behind it, it’s becoming something that we just do now and that’s not enough for me. I’m not going to take the knee.

“We’re isolating ourselves, we’re trying to say that we’re equal but we’re isolating ourselves with these things that aren’t even working anyway, so that’s my stand on it.”

He also said he would not wear the Black Lives Matter slogan on his shirt as “it feels like it’s a target”.

Premier League clubs’ shirts carried the Black Lives Matter slogan during the restarted 2019-20 season, before being changed for this season to feature a patch promoting the league’s own anti-discrimination campaign, No Room For Racism.

Last week, Brentford FC decided to stop making the anti-racism gesture before games.

Speaking about the move, 24-year-old Toney said the gesture was allowing “people at the top” to rest on the subject and that nothing had changed as a result.

“We have had a long discussion about that; why we are not taking a knee,” he told Sky Sports.

“Everyone has had their say, and everyone agrees [that] we have been taking the knee for however long now and still nothing has changed.

“We are kind of being used as puppets, in my eyes; take the knee and the people at the top can rest for a while now, which is pretty silly and pretty pointless. Nothing is changing.

“The punishments need to be stronger. You’re going to do so much, and, in a way, you have to get that helping hand, but it doesn’t look like it’s coming at the moment. So you have to push for that and hopefully things change.”

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Meanwhile, Zaha said he was inspired to speak up by fellow footballer Marcus Rashford.

He said: “No matter how small my platform is compared to other people, I don’t see why I would not say anything on something that means a lot to me and means a lot to other people so it’s a thing where I feel like I have a duty to do what I can really.

“Marcus Rashford, he’s got his platform there and he’s pushed through to make things happen and some people just tell him to stick to football and stuff, but how can you say that if he’s probably feeding your child?

“So obviously certain footballers will just play football and go home, but I feel like with the opportunity you have to broaden your horizon and do more, you only live once, why not? Then, if you can inspire people at the same time, you’re doing it – it’s a win-win.”

Taking a knee was popularised by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016 and was taken on by the Black Lives Matter movement, before the Premier League and EFL linked the gesture to their own anti-racism campaigns

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