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Players from second division Millwall and Derby kneel at the start of the game
Photo:
Jacques Feeney / Getty Images
The return of spectators should bring some of its magic back to English football.
But it also led to a racist incident that is now causing waves.
At the championship game between Millwall and Derby County on Saturday, home fans booed the footballers when they kneeled down as a gesture against racism, police violence and discrimination.
The booing can be clearly heard on video recordings of the second division game, and the volume does not allow any other conclusion than that several of the 2000 spectators present were participating.
The action caused a loud echo.
Not only English media wrote about the incident, CNN also reported.
Club officials condemned the behavior.
And some players found even clearer words.
Black Derby striker Colin Kazim-Richards tweeted that disrupting the protest was "an absolute shame".
Kazim-Richards himself had provided a symbolic image when he paused during the gesture and raised his fist while the boos rang out around him.
"I stand and I stand proud," said the 34-year-old afterwards.
England's top scorer, Wayne Rooney, said he was very surprised by the calls.
“It's a shame, there has actually been great progress in this campaign.
To hear that is very disappointing and annoying for many people «.
The kneeling immediately after the referee's whistle began in English professional football last July.
This is intended to express support for the fight against structural racism and discrimination;
The trigger was the death of the American George Floyd.
He died in May after a police officer pressed his knee back on his neck for minutes.
Since then, people have been kneeling in the Premier League.
Actually, there seemed to be a consensus that the gesture is justified.
Apparently the impression is wrong.
This has to be doubted not only because of the collective boos at the Millwall game, but also because of some reactions to it.
The British Environment Minister George Eustice did not want to condemn the incident, on the contrary: When asked about it during a Sky News broadcast, he called "Black Lives Matter" a "political movement" that is not about equality.
"If people want to express themselves in a certain way, we should respect that," he said, referring to the boos.
Eustice thus follows a line of argument known from the USA, which primarily uses the rights.
She reacts to “Black Lives Matter” with “All Lives Matter”.
A sentence that is actually correct - but if it comes in response to "BLM" undermines the real concern: The "BLM" movement is not about restricting the rights of white people, but about achieving equality for black people.
Millwall FC announced that it was "upset and sad".
The club promised, among other things, to work with the "Kick It Out" initiative, which takes action against discrimination in English stadiums, to find "the fastest possible solutions".
“The club has worked tirelessly over the past few months to prepare for the fans to return.
What should have been a positive and exciting event was completely overshadowed, much to the immense disappointment and annoyance of those who contributed to this effort, "the statement said:" The club will not allow the good work to be in vain. «
It was the first football weekend in months that spectators (albeit in small numbers) were allowed in England.
2000 fans were in the stadium in Millwall, the last time spectators were allowed at The Den at the end of February.
By the way, Millwall lost the game against Derby 0-1.
The fans of the East London club Millwall don't have a good reputation anyway.
In the 1970s and 1980s in particular, the scene was marked by hooligan violence.
The English association FA published a statement in the evening in which it was not explicitly about the incident in Millwall.
It said, however, that the association would »support players and club staff who want to respectfully protest against discrimination, including kneeling«.
The FA condemned it in the strongest possible terms when spectators disrupted such protests, it said.
But there were also other reactions after the incident.
When Chelsea received Leeds United that evening, the players went on their knees as usual after kick-off.
The spectators in the stadium accompanied the gesture with applause.
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mon / AP / Reuters