Opinion Analysis by Joelle El Sheikh, Featured Writer

July 25th, 2021

When the first European Football Championship was held in 1960, dictator Francisco Franco prohibited Spanish players from playing the Soviets because Moscow had backed republican troops in the Spanish Civil War. So, much like Olympic Games, which withstood boycotts by the US and the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War, this competition is no stranger to geopolitical conflict, and political motives. Despite this precedent, sports organizations advocate for political neutrality in their global events. That posture, however, is becoming increasingly hard to withstand as the lines between politics and human rights are blurred. UEFA, the governing body of European football, highlights their commitment towards specific policies that help in securing long-term participation within European football, one of which is “Anti-violence, anti-discrimination and inclusivity campaigns”. This year, however, things took an interesting turn.

After a lengthy delay owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the highly anticipated EURO 2020 event took place on June 11, 2021. Ahead of the first match of the season, word started circulating that several teams are expected to take a knee before games to show support for racial justice. Taking the knee has evolved into an anti-racist statement after American footballer Colin Kaepernick took the knee during the national anthem before a match in 2016, stating that he "could not stand to show pride in the flag of a country that oppressed black people."[1] Following the death of George Floyd, the statement became a popular emblem in athletics as well as an element of the global Black Lives Matter movement. England, Wales, and Belgium were amongst the teams that took the knee at all of their games during the EURO 2020. Gareth Southgate, England's manager, has stated that his players are "more determined than ever" to take the knee, as it corresponds with their core principles and beliefs as a national team. At recent games against Austria and Romania, England supporters booed — and some applauded — their anti-racism gesture. The move, however, is opposed by a number of Conservative lawmakers who perceive it as a ‘political statement’, despite the fact that Southgate clarified the real meaning behind it: supporting each other. Is taking the knee in support of racial justice too much of a political statement for a politically neutral UEFA?

Priti Patel, the United Kingdom's Home Secretary, described the English team's decision to take the knee as "gesture politics," saying that English supporters have a "choice" whether or not to boo, while avoiding the subject of whether she would do so. Similarly, some fans, as well as right-wing politicians stated that “politics should stay out of football”.

“Politics should stay out of Football”

While the Black Lives Matter movement is political in nature—and may need to be in order to achieve significant change—its essential values of equality, respect, and tolerance are at its core. In terms of the UEFA, these are its main pillars. Take any other sporting event: doesn't equality serve as the first and most important foundation for sportsmanship and fair competition? While all teams have explicitly expressed their commitment towards equality and respect for all, some are against the act of kneeling as it is not “bringing about any meaningful change”. This is especially the case with Scotland, with their captain, Andy Robertson stating that “Our stance is that everyone, players, fans, teams, clubs, federations, governing bodies and governments must do more. Meaningful action is needed if meaningful change is to occur." Scotland later changed their stance and decided to participate in the act of kneeling during their game against England, as a show of solidarity. Following some unfavorable reaction from English supporters to the act of kneeling, one Twitter user gave a different viewpoint: "What if some people are booing because they are bored of virtue signaling and nothing actually being done about the issue. Having to see players take the knee when nothing more is happening, no changes being made, etc?"

When players in any sporting event decide to take a knee, racial abuse and discrimination will not miraculously disappear. However, the major advantage of an iconic gesture was that it brought the topic of racism to the media and political agenda of sports even when it was not always about incidents of racism, because the most successful policy is continual battle and condemnation[2].

Perhaps the biggest proof of the need for more meaningful action towards combatting racial abuse is the post-final outburst of racist comments made by English fans after England lost to Italy during penalties. Outside a building devoted to the world's first black professional footballer, racist graffiti was written on a painting honoring English footballers Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, and Bukayo Saka. On the white wall of the Arthur Wharton Foundation in Darlington, the words "We do not stand with the 3 Black Lions" were put beneath the jersey numbers of the players.

Cowardly, Disgusting, and Shameful

Although many prominent personalities, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the English squad, have issued forceful condemnations in response to the racial backlash, Tyrone Mings' response to Piti Patal's tweet expressing her outrage at the "vile racist abuse on social media" sticks out the most:

“You don’t get to stoke the fire at the beginning of the tournament by labelling our anti-racism message as ‘Gesture Politics’ & then pretend to be disgusted when the very thing we’re campaigning against, happens.”

Mings' remark neatly encapsulates the debate: shaming players for kneeling or partaking in any sort of censure towards a topic as prevalent and terrible as racial abuse is part of the reason they are doing so. When teams like England lose, race and immigration issues are quickly raised. In other words, it's "keep politics out of football” until your team loses.

What about the LGBT Community?

Hungarian spectators booed members of the Irish football team who took a knee to support racial equality earlier this month. Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, criticized the Irish players for "provoking" local fans. On a similar note, Hungary's parliament passed a bill that forbids broadcasters and educators from teaching youngsters about homosexuality and gender reassignment, as advocated by Orban's far-right Fidesz party. This political decision made its way into the game between Germany and Hungary on the 23rd of June when the mayor of Munich asked UEFA to light the stadium with the colors of the LGBTQ+ flag, but UEFA declined. Top Hunagrian diplomat Peter Szijjártó stated that “mixing politics and sport is harmful and dangerous.” In retaliation, a spectator wearing a German shirt ran onto the pitch with a rainbow flag while the Hungarian anthem was playing before the start of the game. During the group stage match, some spectators waved multi-colored flags. To top that, Bayern Munich Captain Manuel Neuer walked onto the field in the following game for Germany wearing a distinct armband. Neuer was seen wearing a rainbow-colored armband to represent the LGBT pride flag, rather than the customary white armband with a logo.

The UEFA released a statement on Twitter explaining the rationale behind its refusal to light up the stadium and attributing it to the “political context” in Hungary. In other words, the flag itself was not political, but the act of using it to make a statement in Hungary was.

Your “It’s political” is their life

Politics exists in every person’s life, whether they choose to engage with it or not. Some, however, have the luxury, or dare I say privilege, to exclude politics from friendships, family gatherings, or even sports. Others, particularly those who are marginalized by political institutions and decisions, are unable to do so. This is also true for athletes. Black people's lives have always been politicized. Every decision they make, including the decision to take a knee, has the potential to become political. Protesting becomes a duty when political policies become intrusive and life-threatening to people of a certain community who feel as though their lives matter less than those around them. You can either stand with them or play the political card. The ball is in you court.  

This controversy is unlikely to be settled anytime soon. The Winter Olympics will be held in China in 2022, and the World Cup will be held in Qatar, both of which have a poor human rights record. “As much as [these] organizations...would like us to believe that sport is apolitical, it just isn't,”[3] says Simon Darnell, an associate professor of sport for development and peace at the University of Toronto.

Bibliography

“Euro 2020: Fans Make pro-LGBT Protest at Germany-Hungary Football Game.” BBC News, BBC, 23 June 2021, www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57570472

“Europe Divided on Taking the Knee during EURO 2020 Football Tournament.” Euronews, 11 June 2021, www.euronews.com/2021/06/11/europe-divided-on-taking-the-knee-during-euro-2020-football-tournament

“Mural for Rashford, Sancho and Saka Vandalised with Racist Graffiti.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 18 July 2021, www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rashford-sancho-saka-racist-mural-darlington-b1886087.html

“What's Taking the Knee and Why Was It an Issue at Euro 2020?” BBC News, BBC, 15 July 2021, www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53098516

Al Jazeera. “UEFA Tells Ukraine to Remove 'Political' Slogan from Euros Kit.” Euro2020 News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 10 June 2021, www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/10/uefa-tells-ukraine-to-remove-political-slogan-from-euros-kit

Sinnott, John. “Euro 2020: Football's Coming Home, but Taking a Knee Divides England Fans.” CNN, Cable News Network, 9 June 2021, https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/05/football/euro-2020-england-taking-a-knee-spt-intl/index.html

Sports, Nss. “There's the Need for New Gestures in Football.” Nss Magazine, Nss Magazine, 24 June 2021, www.nssmag.com/en/sports/25383/valore-gesti-politici-calcio

Timsit, Annabelle. “Politics Are Taking over Euro 2020.” Quartz, Quartz, https://qz.com/2023438/politics-are-taking-over-euro-2020-ahead-of-germany-vs-hungary/

UEFA.com. “View Our Full Mission and Pillars: UEFA Innovation Hub: Inside UEFA.” UEFA.com, www.uefa.com/insideuefa/football-development/innovation-hub/mission

[1] “What's taking the knee and why was it an issue at Euro 2020?”, BBC, https://www.bbc.com/news/explainers-53098516

[2] “There’s the need for new gestures in Football”, NNS Sports, https://www.nssmag.com/en/sports/25383/valore-gesti-politici-calcio

[3] “Politics are Taking over Euro 2020”, QUARTZ, https://qz.com/2023438/politics-are-taking-over-euro-2020-ahead-of-germany-vs-hungary/