Tottenham and England captain Harry Kane has said players should continue to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement by taking a knee before matches.
The gesture of solidarity has taken place before every Premier League fixture since English football’s restart in June, a month after unarmed Black man George Floyd died in police custody in Minnesota after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes.
Matches all around the world including UEFA Nations League internationals, the Champions League and the Europa League have featured players taking the knee for nine seconds before kick-off but some figures within the game have questioned whether it should stop.
QPR director of football Les Ferdinand said the anti-racism message had been “diluted” through excessive use.
“I hear people ask if we should still be doing it and we should. What people don’t realise is sometimes we are watched by millions of people round the world. Of course, for the person who watches the Premier League every week, they see the same thing every week,” Kane told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“But I think if you look around the world you see children watching the game for the first time, seeing us all take a knee and asking their parents and asking why we take the knee.
“It’s a great chance for people to explain why and get their point across. Education is the biggest thing we can do. Adults can teach generations what it means, and what it means to be together and help each other no matter what your race.”
Kane also sought to highlight the work done by fellow England teammates Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling in campaigning for change while acknowledging white players must do more to help stamp out racist abuse.
“What Marcus and Raheem have done has been incredible and you see a lot of the work players do for communities and charities, I know first-hand that players are doing an awful lot,” he added.