Taking the knee ‘is just token gesture’

MORE players have backed calls to stop taking the knee as they believe the pre-match ritual is becoming a ‘token gesture’.

Liam Bridcutt and Britt Assombalonga, captains of

Lincoln City and Middlesbrough respectively, insist it is not doing enough in the fight against racism.

All matches in the Premier League this season have seen players and officials take the knee, though further down the divisions the response has become much more divided.

League One side Lincoln announced last week they will stop initiating taking the knee before matches. ‘The club approached me and said we are looking to do more rather than just take the knee,’ Bridcutt told The Mail on Sunday.

‘My thoughts as a black player are that it is starting to become a token gesture. It is starting to be a brand and we want to do more.

We want to educate people at a point in life where a lot is happening that shouldn’t.

‘We want to be doing more with the community. Our decision is not going against what it stands for. We just believe as a club that we can do more.’

Lincoln, who say they will still support other clubs who wish to take the knee, plan to send players into schools to help educate young people in the community and have also signed up to the FA’s new Football Leadership Diversity Code.

The decision to take the knee before matches was met with unified acceptance during Project Restart following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in May while the Premier League have agreed to continue it this season.