Posted on 07/01/2020 2:18:44 AM PDT by Olog-hai
Sky Sports pundits Jamie Redknapp and Patrice Evra ditched their Black Lives Matter badges last night as football captains considered making a statement on the movement, which the Premier League has distanced itself from.
Redknapp and Evra along with host Kelly Cates and commentator Gary Neville were not wearing the badges during Sky’s coverage of Brighton v. Manchester United, during which players knelt before kickoff and had “Black Lives Matter” on their sleeves.
Since the league resumed, guests appearing on Sky Sports have worn the badges with the campaign phrase after all 20 clubs agreed to emblazon “Black Lives Matter” on their shirts for the first round of games following the COVID-19 break.
Players and officials have also “taken the knee” before matches, a symbol which was adopted by American athletes to protest police brutality and racism in 2016 and which has been used by Black Lives Matter protesters across the world since the killing of George Floyd.
But concerns have been raised after a series of tweets by the UK branch of Black Lives Matter, which criticized Israel and called on the British government to “defund the police”.
On Tuesday, the Premier League said it recognized “the importance of the message that black lives matter” but made clear that it “does not endorse any political organization or movement, nor support any group that calls for violence or condones illegal activity.” …
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
They are of course the opposite. When I started seeing the players all kneeling and wearing the phrase on the backs of the league shirts ... I'm sure the players had no choice whether or not some were into it -> they were ALL doing it in what amounts practically to a synchronized dance, so it came down from the leagues -> I think Europe likes to stick things in America's eye, but in this case they may be waking up that this is no benign charity and it ain't out for equality.
I’m happy to see some sanity, and a quick recognition that you can’t appease radicals - until they have power and you are either in a gulag or are dead.
“I think Europe likes to stick things in America’s eye, but in this case they may be waking up that this is no benign charity and it ain’t out for equality.”
Plus, racism is a much more overt problem in European soccer than in any sport in the US.
Is it really? I know a lot about pure soccer, not a lot about racism in the sport or frankly even racism in other countries.
I always consider football (real football) an important and generally harmless way to release ethnic tensions — and to get rid of them,
There’s a joke in Iran that they’d gladly love all Jews if we could lend them some of our star players.
“Is it really? I know a lot about pure soccer, not a lot about racism in the sport or frankly even racism in other countries.”
Yes, it is. I also know a lot about ‘pure soccer’, and love it. That said, blacks playing in Europe, in the Premiere league, Serie A, and other Euopean leagues have been subject to tons of overt acts, including bottles being thrown at players on the field, bananas being thrown on the field, verbal abuse, etc.
Patrice Evra, who is one of the commentators referred to in this article, was himself the subject of racism as a player (as you probably know, he was a great left back). Some of what he experienced happened in Europe, and some even happened in his native Senegal:
“We played in Palermo and every time I touched the ball 20,000 people would make monkey noises,” Evra recalled. “I felt so alone and isolated.”
“I grew up amid a Senegalese culture at home,” Evra said. “But we became westernised very quickly and when I had to choose between playing for Senegal or France my father told me to follow my heart. I opted for France, as that was where I had grown up, but I then came in for lots of abuse in Senegal. I was called a monkey who grovels before the white man and labelled a money-obsessed traitor to the nation. But my parents helped me get through it.”
Here’s a link to an article about racism in Soccer, from 2020 (it’s an ABC link, so don’t click if you don’t want them to get the traffic).
https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/racism-soccer-epidemic-mirrors-disturbing-trends-europe-advocates/story?id=67850877
Note: I post this as an American who is very tired of race being used as a political tool in the US. For the record, people like Sharpton and Kaepernick are part of the problem, not the social justice warriors they portray themselves as. In that context, I give Patrice a ton of credit for doing the right thing and taking the BLM pin off of his lapel.
YES! The World is just dying to hear what FOOTBALL CAPTAINS think about stuff!!
Let’s aske them about foreign policy next! How do they feel about taxes?
WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT FOOTBALL CAPTAINS THINK!!!
The Israeli team has some really good players, and over the years, several Israelis have played in the EPL and elsewhere in Europe.
How many of the people wearing badges, etc, have even read Black Lives Matter’s own website? Their leadership must be very happy to have fomented a revolution based on a phrase and the propaganda media’s interpretation of it, rather on information readily available. Do the sports teams, etc. actually want to end capitalism?
Yeah, I can’t blame them for leaving home to get some real $$, but it still hurts.
Unrelated, but there was a non-Jewish guy who used to help around the synagogue when I was growing up — ended up falling in love and converting — he was a former professional footballer and coached a local team.
We called him the “football goy” because he would keep us all updated about the games on Shabbos. Very popular guy, as a result.
They still regularly throw bananas on the pitch at black players.
I grew up playing soccer when you couldn't get any on TV (and there was no internet) ... then started playing a lot again 5 years ago and also followed Barcelona closely ... and you really can't follow a team in Europe without following all of the European leagues ...
Now that you mention I guess I have here and there heard tales of those things, just never gave it much thought or investigation.
Agree with you on comments.
LOL! “The football goy”. I love it.
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