Liverpool Football Club has joined the #BlackLivesMatter movement by paying tribute to George Floyd who was recently murdered by a Police officer in the United States of America.
Before the Premier League club started their training session on Monday, all the players and coaches circled around the centre circle of the club’s training field and went down on a knee in solidarity with all those who have been racially abused in one way or the other.
Afterwards, Liverpool took to Twitter and share a clip showing when they were carrying out the action which is aimed at adding their voices to the cry for justice for George Floyd. Besides the clip which was posted on the official Twitter handle of Liverpool FC, all the players of the club also took to their Twitter accounts to share a picture showing when they all went down on a knee for George Floyd.
The entire squad knelt in Anfield’s centre circle ahead of today’s training session in a powerful show of support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
— Liverpool FC (at 🏠) (@LFC) June 1, 2020
Unity is strength: https://t.co/2BN18U4jIY pic.twitter.com/oVE5RgNMmh
Floyd Shakes the world
Floyd is an African-American who was arrested in Minnesota. Despite not resisting arrest nor posed a threat to the police, he was forced to the ground and a police officer kneeled on his neck while other officers watched until he died.
His death has reawakened the debate against racism, police brutality, and the threats African-Americans are subjected to because of the colour on their skin. It has led to a wide range of protest across some major cities in America and some other parts of the world amid the dreaded coronavirus pandemic.
Some cities in America have had to declare curfew in order to contain the movement of mass protesters across the United States as varieties of Floyd’s hashtags have flooded the Internet.
As that approach is being taken, football stars have decided to step in to lead the struggle for justice for the slain African-American. For instance, Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho was issued a yellow card for removing his jersey to reveal an inscription calling for justice for George Floyd.
Paul Pogba Calls For Justice for George Floyd
One of the most recent football star to join the movement is Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba. He took to Instagram to share a picture of himself raising a fist in solidarity with the struggle for justice for all those who have been victims of racism and urged the world to stop racism.
He wrote, “During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness.
“Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism EVERY DAY! Whether in football, at work, at school, ANYWHERE!
“This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end TODAY!”
FIFA Recognises Floyd’s Case
Meanwhile, the world football governing body, FIFA, has urged organisers of football competitions across the world to be flexible when applying the laws of the game on players who are expressing their support for justice for the slain George Floyd.
This came in reaction to the yellow card slammed on Jadon Sancho for removing his jersey after scoring a goal to call for justice.
“FIFA fully understands the depth of sentiment and concerns expressed by many footballers in light of the tragic circumstances of the George Floyd case,” FIFA said in a statement.
“The application of the laws of the game … is left for the competitions’ organisers, which should use common sense and have in consideration the context surrounding the events.”
