Guehi questions meaning of taking the knee as he leads Premier League stars in rejecting gesture

Manchester City and England defender Marc Guehi has suggested that taking the knee as an anti-racism gesture may have lost its meaning after choosing to remain standing at kick-off on Saturday.

Premier League players were invited to take the knee before matches this weekend as part of the top flight's 'No Room for Racism' campaign, which aims to combat discrimination.

Guehi was one of six players to stay on his feet across the weekend, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rayan, Tyler Adams and Issa Diop also doing the same.

Asked why he chose not to take the knee on the eve of Manchester City's Champions League clash with AEK Athens, Guehi said: 'I'm not sure to be honest. The campaign's still there, which is great.

'The message is still there, which is great. Whether more can be done? More can always be done. So I think we have to see how we can move the campaign along.

'I don't think it's necessarily a football issue, it's a wider societal issue and football is just that beacon of, I guess, hope, to try to get the message out. But whether more can be done - we'll try, hopefully with the PFA, with the league, we'll see what can be done.'

Guehi was then asked if he believes the gesture has lost its meaning.

'Maybe. I haven't been taking the knee for a while now,' he admitted. 'I'd always clap just because of what that actually signifies but in terms of if something can be done, hopefully.

'I hope we can do a bit more but we'll just see. Hopefully the message is getting out there which is the most important thing.'

Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has also explained why his striker Calvert-Lewin chose not to take the knee ahead of Sunday's 1-1 draw with Manchester United.

'Dom is more or less like, "No, I don't go down. I show my respect by standing up." Every individual is different and shows respect for this campaign in a different way,' he said, defending the forward after his goal earned Leeds a 1-1 draw at Elland Road.

'It's definitely a good campaign and a good topic that football and sports, in general, support situations like this because a dressing room is a perfect example of how we should all live together.

'Different passports, different languages, different religions, but they are all together as human beings and friends who work together toward one target. This is how the world should be.'

Parts of Elland Road loudly booed as players took the knee ahead of Leeds' clash with Manchester United, amid fears the gesture has lost its impact since its introduction during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is not the first time players have refused to take the knee. Last year Calvert-Lewin did so in Burnley's fixture with Leeds, while Crysencio Summerville has been known to take the same action.

Former Premier League star Wilfried Zaha previously explained why he objected to the gesture in 2021, saying: 'I feel like taking the knee is degrading, 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.'

When Marcos Alonso was at Chelsea, he opted to point to the Premier League's 'No Room For Racism' badge on his arm rather than join his fellow players.

Ahead of the 2021-22 season, Luton indicated that they would not be taking the knee and instead all stood in the centre circle.

At that stage, players were still taking the knee ahead of every game – but that policy was stopped in August 2022. Instead, a decision was made to limit the gesture to match rounds falling during the No Room For Racism initiative.

It was agreed ahead of the season among Premier League captains that they would continue to perform the gesture twice per season.

Players and staff have the opportunity to perform the pre-match gesture for the next two gameweeks in October, with the Premier League reiterating 'the commitment to tackling discrimination and highlight the importance of diversity in football'.

The move started in the UK in 2020 following the death of George Floyd in US police custody, which sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.