Over the past two weeks, some of the loudest voices speaking up against racism and police brutality have come from the sports’ world.
Premier League leaders Liverpool were the first club in the Premier League to issue the ‘Black Lives Matter’ slogan.
The Liverpool squad was seen pictured around the centre circle at Anfield taking a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle and others soon followed suit.
Borussia Dortmund showed a strong message in support of racial equality before their game against Hertha Berlin while Bayern Munich wore Black Lives Matter armbands against Bayer Leverkusen.
Dortmund players, including Jadon Sancho, showed their solidarity by warming up in tops with messages such as ‘no justice, no peace’ and ‘united together’.
German club Eintracht Frankfurt wore a specially designed kit in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in its German Cup semifinal defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday.
Frankfurt’s sporting director Fredi Bobic said the entire team wanted to show it was “together against all forms of racism” amid widespread protests around the world, sparked by the death of George Floyd.
World heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua also took part in a Black Lives Matter protest in the UK in support of the George Floyd protests and said the “virus of racism is out of control”.
Joshua, the IBF, WBA and WBO champion, addressed a crowd of hundreds in his home town of Watford with an impassioned speech, while he also read a poem.
Manchester City forward Raheem Sterling has been brave enough to speak up against racism on many occasions and, following protests in the United Kingdom in the wake of George Floyd’s death in the United States, he discussed the problems currently in society.
These protests came at a time when the coronavirus pandemics is still present, but, for many, the death of George Floyd was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back.
“I know this might sound a little bit cheesy, but the only disease right now is the racism that we are fighting,” Sterling said.
Hector Bellerin of Arsenal FC.
Now, Sterling wants this wave of momentum, harnessed through the #BlackLivesMatter movement, to be used to enact change that will help eradicate racism from sport and wider society for good.
“There’s only so much communities and other backgrounds can take – especially black people,” Sterling added.
“It’s been going on for hundreds of years and people are tired, and people are ready for change.
“This is something that needs more than just talking. “We need to actually implement change and highlight the places that do need changes”.
“But this is something that I will continue to do, spark these debates and get people in my industry looking at themselves and thinking what they can do to give people an equal chance in this country.”