Swansea City players to stop taking the knee before games
- Published
Former Swansea City player Yan Dhanda (right) takes a knee before a game against Reading in 2021
Swansea City's players will no longer take the knee before games this season, the club have announced.
The practice of taking the knee before matches became widespread in 2020 as a statement against racism following the murder of George Floyd in the US.
Swansea have taken the knee before every game since and said the decision to stop was "not taken lightly".
The club said "discrimination of any nature is abhorrent and has no place in football or society".
"We remain firmly in support of what taking the knee stands for and represents," a statement said.
"Taking the knee has undoubtedly helped to raise awareness and encourage conversations about how to remove racism from the game we all love.
"But we feel we want to take responsibility as a group and find alternative ways to show our commitment to inclusion and diversity, and we feel that needs to run deeper than taking the knee each time we play."
The club added that it was committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and would continue to work alongside the Swansea City Foundation in promoting the message "that football, and sport in general, is for everyone".
Swansea said they had "first-hand experience of the devastating impact discriminatory abuse" can have with several of their players being targeted for racial abuse on social media.
Ben Cabango as well as former Swansea players Jamal Lowe and Yan Dhanda were racially abused on social media, while Bedfordshire Police investigated after Rhys Williams - who was on loan from Liverpool - was allegedly racially abused by a Luton Town fan in September 2021.
In April 2021 the club announced a week-long social media boycott on all platforms to combat abuse and discrimination, which was followed by a number of other clubs and organisations.
Swansea head coach Russell Martin said the club's players had been left frustrated by the Williams incident.
"We have a group of players that really care and a captain who cares a huge amount about this and about the things that have happened to the players here over a period of time," Martin said.
"They felt really let down about how the Rhys Williams situation was dealt with. They feel they take a knee, they take a stand, they make a statement. They feel it has very little meaning because the Rhys thing just fizzled out into nothing. We didn't hear anything.
"They think it's lost its impact, taking the knee. It's not them saying they don't believe in it.
"They are working together with the club to find their own way of making an impact.
"They feel taking the knee doesn't really have the impact that it did, two years down the line. They feel it's become a bit of a token gesture. We support them in that."
Cardiff City and Newport County, meanwhile, have told 大象传媒 Sport Wales their players will continue to take the knee this season.
Via the club's website, Cardiff's players said they "have asked for it to be reiterated to supporters on the eve of the season that this is not a political gesture, but because they wish to help keep the conversation around racism, inequality and discrimination in football and wider society moving forward".
The added: "Cardiff City football club remains unwaveringly committed to combating all forms of racism, inequality and discrimination that sadly continue to plague our sport.
"We ask all supporters to respect the taking of the knee, or indeed the decision of our opponents not to take the knee should this be their choice."