June 9 – The US women’s national team has called on the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to scrap its policy of forbidding players from ‘taking a knee’ during the national anthem in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
The USSF are planning to meet today to consider abandoning the rule, which currently requires players to “stand respectfully during the playing of national anthems at any event in which the Federation is represented”.
NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick famously invented the gesture of kneeling during pre-game playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” in 2016 to protest against racial inequality, much to the annoyance of Donald Trump who has long condemned the idea.
The same year, in solidarity with Kaepernick, US women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe twice took a knee during the playing of the anthem prior to fixtures, prompting the USSF to act.
“We believe the Federation should lay out its plans on how it will now support the message and movement that it tried to silence four years ago,” the U.S. women’s team said in a statement posted on the Twitter feed of its players association.
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