Declan Rice is in talks with other Premier League captains over whether clubs in the top-flight should continue taking the knee before games.
BBC Sport reports that the 20 captains in the division are holding discussions over whether clubs will continue going down to a knee before matches, as they have done since Project Restart after the COVID-enforced suspension.
The captains are said to have already held one meeting but they were unable to reach a resolution. Rice was appointed captain after Mark Noble’s retirement.
As a result, the skippers have gone away and discussed the issue with their team-mates, and are now poised to report back in another meeting.
A decision will have to be reached before Friday, when the new Premier League season kicks off with Crystal Palace facing Arsenal at Selhurst Park.
Palace’s Wilfried Zaha is one of the most high-profile players to stop taking the knee, and other clubs down the pyramid have done so too, including Derby County and AFC Bournemouth, the latter of whom are now a top-flight club after last season’s promotion.
BBC Sport reports that many players feel the anti-racism message has now lost a lot of its impact.
Misleading headline
Are you saying he is not in talks or you expected a different story?
It’s a very important issue, there is so much inequality I wonder whether they should broaden it out to all prejudice, when you compare the womens game where there are lots of openly gay players, yet only one in the mens game it’s clear that something is wrong. Like Zaha I question what is changing, if taking the knee is just symbolic and not leading to change what else can be done that might ?
Some kind of new symbol that facilirates a change in the predominantly white male hierarchical structures, change is a dynamic thing and taking the knee may shine a light on inequality but that light has imho been getting progressively dimmer for the last year.
Spot on!