Liverpool players take a knee

Liverpool players took a knee around the centre circle at Anfield Stadium in a gesture of support following the death of George Floyd.

Squad members posted a picture of the act on their social media accounts with the caption, ‘‘Unity is strength #BlackLivesMatter.’’

The picture of 29 players from the English league leaders was taken during a training session yesterday.

Star players Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and captain Jordan Henderson were among those to post the picture that was retweeted by the official account of Liverpool, which is owned by Fenway Sports Group – the US company which also controls the Boston Red Sox. Liverpool also tweeted out the picture.

Floyd, a black man, died in Minneapolis after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nine minutes even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air.

Floyd’s death has sparked days of protests across the United States and it has resonated in the football world.

Four players took a stand over the weekend in Germany’s Bundesliga, which is the first major football league to resume during the coronavirus pandemic.

Another player, Anthony Modeste, made a gesture of solidarity after scoring a goal for Cologne in its match against Leipzig yesterday, standing briefly with his right palm facing out and his left palm facing in to display the darker skin on the back of his hand.

In England, Manchester United and England striker Marcus Rashford, who is black, also posted a message on Twitter, saying ‘‘people are hurting and people need answers.’’

‘‘Black lives matter. Black culture matters. Black communities matter. We matter,’’ Rashford wrote, before adding #justiceforgeorgefloyd.

Rashford’s United team-mate, Paul Pogba, sent a post on his Instagram account, saying he felt ‘‘anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness’’ about what happened to Floyd.

‘‘Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated,’’ Pogba’s message read. ‘‘I can’t tolerate. I won’t tolerate. WE WON’T TOLERATE.

‘‘Racism is ignorance. LOVE is intelligence.’’