By Adegboyega Adeleye Manchester City defender Marc Guehi believes taking the knee before football matches may have lost some of its impact saying more can be done to tackle racism. According to the Associated Press, Guehi, who is Black, did not take the knee before City’s Premier League match against Ipswich on Saturday, the first of two rounds of games dedicated to the league’s “No Room For Racism” campaign.
It isn’t the first time Guehi refused to perform the gesture. The gesture was introduced in June 2020 in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The Premier League stopped asking players to take the knee before every match from the 2022-23 season, instead inviting them to do so on selected occasions.
Speaking on Monday, ahead of City’s Champions League match against AEK Athens, Guehi welcomed the continuation of the anti-racism campaign and called for further action. “It’s great,” he said. “Whether more can be done — more can always be done. We have to see how we can move the campaign along. “I don’t think it’s necessarily a football issue.
I think it’s a wider societal issue and football is that beacon of hope to try to get the message out. But whether more can be done, we will try, hopefully with the PFA (English soccer’s players union), with the league.” Asked whether taking the knee had lost its meaning, Guehi replied: “Maybe. I haven’t been taking the knee for a while now, to be honest.
I’d always clap, just because of what that actually signifies.” He did not elaborate on his reasons for no longer taking the knee. Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin also remained standing during the weekend’s anti-racism gesture, while his teammates and Manchester United players knelt. Calvert-Lewin scored in the 1-1 draw. Leeds manager Daniel Farke said: