Solskjaer backs Premier League teams taking a knee in protest
Manchester, June 18 (IANS) Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has backed the English Premier League taking a stand in the ‘Black Lives Matter’ campaign, saying it is time Premier League teams say enough is enough.
Unarmed African-American George Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes on May 25. His death has triggered protests against racism and police brutality across the globe.
Before Aston Villa’s match against Sheffield United on Wednesday evening, all players and support staff took a knee in protest against the death as the Premier League resumed after the coronavirus pandemic. Manchester City and Arsenal players also did the same before their fixture.
“Well I think it has been an event in history that has changed people’s views and of course the movement now, I think we all know that this shouldn’t happen in 2020, what’s been happening and that players, Premier League teams that we all make a stand and say enough is enough, I think that is good. I don’t expect anything different from ours,” Solskjaer was quoted as saying on Manchester United’s official website ahead of their match against Tottenham Hotspur.
“I feel now that this time finally it is changing and it’s been on the agenda now for many, many years of course. This issue of racism and we’ve had a couple instances in the league and we’ve talked about it, maybe it’s then forgotten, but this time it looks and hopefully it will effect more and more people and leaders of countries and decision makers. I think we all supported the actions,” he added.
On the Tottenham game on Friday night, he said: “It’s a great game, a big game against one of the best teams in the league of course, Champions League finalists less than a year ago, so we know that we’re up for a hard game. We’ve prepared as well as we’ve can. We’ve trained well, the boys have trained well over the lockdown. We’ve had a couple of in-house 11v11s and we had had one 11v11 against West Brom which hopefully will stand us in good stead. They are young, they look fit and ready, so we will see tomorrow night.”
–IANS
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