The Premier League 2019-20 season is set to resume next week and all the clubs have decided not to show their players’ names on the back of their respective shirts during the first round of games.
As per the BBC, the names of all the players will be replaced with ‘Black Lives Matter’ in order to show solidarity with all the people who have been protesting about George Floyd’s death in the United States.
“We, the players, stand together with the singular objective of eradicating racial prejudice,” read a statement.
“In a joint message from all 20 clubs, players added that they were committed to ‘a global society of inclusion, respect, and equal opportunities for all, regardless of their colour or creed’.”
Apart from this gesture, all the players will also ‘take a knee’ before or during matches.
This decision comes a few weeks after the FA had announced that players in the Premier League will be allowed to show solidarity for George Floyd and stand up against racism, without being punished as per the laws.
“Where any behaviours or gestures on the pitch that may constitute a breach of the laws of the game have to be assessed, they would be reviewed on a case by case basis with a common-sense approach and understanding of their context,” the FA said in a statement.
“The power of football can break down barriers across communities and we remain deeply committed to removing all forms of discrimination from across the game we all love.”
It was BVB stars Achraf Hakimi and Jadon Sancho who started this wave in European football when they showed a message of “Justice for George Floyd” written on their shirts during one of the Bundesliga matches.
Sancho was shown a yellow card right after this incident which was immediately followed by a massive uproar on social media.
As a result of this, FIFA had to urge the competition organisers to use “common sense” regarding this whole incident.
“FIFA had repeatedly expressed itself to be resolutely against racism and discrimination of any kind and recently strengthened its own disciplinary rules with a view to helping to eradicate such behaviours,” FIFA said in the statement, as per The Mirror.
“FIFA itself has promoted many anti-racism campaigns which frequently carry the anti-racism message at matches organised under its own auspices.”
