Everton defender Ainsley Maitland-Niles was the only player on the pitch who opted not to take the knee before their Premier League match against Chelsea on Saturday. The gesture was part of the league's 'No Room For Racism' initiative, which began this weekend with players kneeling moments before kick-off.
Maitland-Niles, a former Arsenal defender, remained standing while his teammates and opponents took part in the anti-racism gesture. He had given no public indication before the game that he would not participate.
Premier League's anti-racism campaign
The Premier League announced this week that players in the top flight will take the knee before kick-off in every fixture until October 25 as part of its anti-racism campaign. A league statement said: 'Players will be taking the knee before kick-off during the next two match rounds to show unity against all forms of discrimination. This is in line with the decision made by captains at the start of the season.'
Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters said: 'During the latest No Room For Racism match rounds, we are using the reach of our players to send an important message: we are united in the fight against racism. We are also highlighting the incredible impact diversity has within our game and communities, something the League and clubs are committed to developing throughout the season.'
Masters added: 'Discrimination of any kind is unacceptable and will not be tolerated, but sadly we still see cases of players and others within football facing abhorrent abuse. Not only will we continue to support those who are subjected to this, we will work with clubs and authorities to try and bring offenders to justice and do everything we can to eradicate racism.'
Players who have spoken out against the gesture
Several Premier League players have previously spoken out against the gesture before games. Former Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha described the kneeling gesture as 'degrading' and used to 'tick boxes'. In 2021, Zaha said: 'The whole kneeling down – why must I kneel down for you to show that we matter? Why must I even wear Black Lives Matter on the back of my top to show you that we matter? This is all degrading stuff.'
Zaha added: 'When people constantly want to get me to do Black Lives Matter talks and racial talks and I'm like, I'm not doing it just so you can put 'Zaha spoke for us.' Like a tick box, basically. I'm not doing any more because unless things change, I'm not coming to chat to you just for the sake of it, like all the interviews I've done.'
He continued: 'All these platforms – you see what's happening, you see people making fake accounts to abuse Black people constantly, but you don't change it. So don't tell me to come and chat about stuff that's not going to change. Change it. All that stuff that you lot are doing, all these charades mean nothing.'
Former Brentford striker Ivan Toney said: 'We have had a long discussion about that; why we are not taking a knee. Everyone has had their say, and everyone agrees [that] we have been taking the knee for however long now and still nothing has changed. We are kind of being used as puppets, in my eyes; take the knee and the people at the top can rest for a while now, which is pretty silly and pretty pointless. Nothing is changing.'
