HARRY UP AND JOIN US IN THE FIGHT

Richards urges England skipper to speak up against racism

MICAH RICHARDS has encouraged England captain Harry Kane to play a leading role in the fight against racism.

only mentioning Harry because he is England captain. A few years ago, I’d asked the same about Wayne Rooney or David Beckham (both above).

“Being England captain carries so much influence – and I believe being consistently outspoken about racism must now become part of the job.”

Richards has been encouraged how thousands of people of all creeds and colours have come together as part of the Black Lives Matter campaign.

The 31-year-old, who won Premier League and FA Cup medals with Manchester City before his career was cut short by injury, added: “I’d ask the same of all white players.

“Every time there is a racist incident in football it’s usually a black man like myself who is asked to do a newspaper interview or go on a TV panel.

“I can understand that to a certain extent, because we have experienced bigotry in our everyday lives.

“But what we need is prominent white people speaking out about the issue as well.

“I can’t tell you how powerful it would be to hear the England captain become a leading voice on this.”

Richards, who is now carving himself a niche in the media as well as working for City as an ambassador, believes football should use the momentum generated by the BLM movement to end discrimination.

He was delighted to see white people join the Black Asian and Minority Ethnic community to demonstrate, adding: “I have always felt that a lot of white people are uncomfortable about talking about racism – and that can be part of the problem.

“But when I was watching Black Lives Matter protests on television, the one thing that struck me was the number of white faces in the crowd.

“I would like to see football follow that lead.”