After more than three months since playing their last game, the Premier League has officially returned. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, precautions such as empty stadiums and social distancing has been implemented but it’s still a ball on the pitch and 22 people run on it to try and kick a ball in a goal.
Some things are more important than a game and that’s what the players on Aston Villa and Sheffield United did. In the first game back, all 22 players and officials, took a knee at kickoff to remember George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter cause.
Before Premier League play kicked off, all 22 players on the pitch for Aston Villa and Sheffield United took a knee. #AVLSHU #MyPLSummer pic.twitter.com/YGPNzSOiEG
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) June 17, 2020
After 10 seconds, everyone stood up and started play but it was just one of multiple things the Premier League and its teams and players are doing to fight against racism. This weekend, all players have their names replaced with “Black Lives Matter” on the backs of their kits. And for the rest of the season, players will be wearing a Black Lives Matter patch on their shoulder.
It’s a small gesture but given soccer as a whole has had a hard time dealing with racism, the past few weeks might get everyone in soccer on the same page and maybe get racism out of the game as well as in society.
