The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)

Scotland team to take the knee in solidarity with England players

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Scotland will take the knee before the England match at Wembley in a show of solidarity.

However, they will continue to stand against racism for their group games at Hampden Park against Czech Republic and Croatia.

National team boss Steve Clarke and captain Andy Robertson reiterated their strong stance against racism and discrimina­tion, while adding that their position on the matter had been “politicise­d” in some quarters.

England players, some of whom have teammates in the Scotland squad, were booed by a small minority of the support before their two friendlies with Austria and Romania, during the taking of the knee.

Clarke and Robertson have both stated their wish to support their England counterpar­ts and eradicate any doubt over their position.

Robertson said: “Our position was – and remains – that the focus must be on meaningful change to fight discrimina­tion in football and wider society.

“In Scotland, the football family has stood against racism all season. It was our collective view that the national team would do the same.

“Our stance is that everyone – players, fans, teams, clubs, federation­s, governing bodies and government­s – must do more. Meaningful action is needed if meaningful change is to occur.

“But it is also clear, given the events around the England national team, taking the knee in this tournament matters as a symbol of solidarity.

“For this reason, we have collective­ly decided to again take the knee as a team for the fixture against England at Wembley Stadium.

“The Scotland team stands against racism but we will kneel against ignorance and in solidarity on June 18.”

Scotland’s decision not to take the knee was criticised in some quarters yesterday for not going far enough in its condemnati­on of racism and discrimina­tion.

Controvers­ial figures in England, such as Laurence Fox and Toby Young, applauded their choice to stand instead.

Scotland stood against racism ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Austria in March, in the wake of Glen Kamara being racially abused against Slavia Prague, while defender Liam Cooper said yesterday that Euro 2020 offered a platform to stand against discrimina­tion.

Clarke added: “It is incumbent on me as the head coach to reiterate that we have done so from our first FIFA World Cup qualifiers and that it has been done in conjunctio­n with clubs across Scottish football including Rangers and Celtic.

“For the avoidance of doubt: Me, my coaching staff, my players and my backroom team take a stand against racism and all forms of unacceptab­le and discrimina­tory behaviour across society.”

 ??  ?? Steve Clarke urges ‘meaningful action’ over racism.
Steve Clarke urges ‘meaningful action’ over racism.

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