Before the European Championship, England manager Southgate made a major decision to continue to let the international footballers kneel on one knee to fight racial discrimination before the game, which has long been widely discussed in football and even booed by fans. England and Austria warmed up a few days ago to maintain this tradition, with audiences in Middlesbrough booing and applauding. After the game, Southgate said that he would communicate with the players to see if the players were willing to continue to do so. Looking at it now, it is to be maintained.
Southgate expressed this position in an open letter to the media "Players Stand" last night, calling it a "moral and educational issue" and "the players have transcended the boundaries of the game and have had a huge impact on this society." They have a responsibility and an obligation to defend civil rights and to transmit the right values. My voice has weight, not because of my personal specialness, but because of my position, I am the England manager. In fact, at home, I am very low, even behind my pet dog, but in public, I represent the English men's football team and the football world, and I have to make my voice heard. ”
"Internationals must use their voices to involve as many people as possible in improving our society. The fight against racial discrimination is one of them, as well as human issues such as equality, tolerance and understanding. I have reservations about using social media, but I also go up to see post-match comments. I will not prohibit players from using social networks to show themselves and interact with fans, but I hope that they will report more cyberbullying, oppose online violence, and purify the online space.
I especially don't understand the practice of some people, online @ someone just to provoke and insult him, or just because of the color of his skin to slander and insult him. As a footballer, I can only call these guys losers! Now the bad tendencies have long been detached from football to all areas of society, criticism can be, but why hate? Where did it come from? ”
Southgate: I'm going to continue to get down on one knee.
Kane supported Southgate's decision to continue on one knee before the game
During the European Championship in England, Wembley is open to fans, with 45,000 expected arrivals in the first two games, and plans to gradually increase until the stadium is full. The UK's epidemic prevention measures are tough and in place, foreign fans such as the first opponent Croatia (regarded as the new crown red zone is a high-risk country) to enter, but also need to quarantine for 10 days, before entering the new software developed by the British Ministry of Health, to prove that the vaccine has been vaccinated or within 48 hours of negative proof, the media called the UK's "vaccine passport".
Obviously not conducive to foreign fans to watch in the United Kingdom, the number of spectators is reduced, England is a veritable home stadium. THE WHO has disputed the UK's approach, "First, it is unfair to people who do not yet have sufficient conditions to be vaccinated, and not all European countries have reached the point of universal vaccination. Second, the effective protection period of vaccines against the new crown virus has not been clearly stated. Vaccinated 3 months ago, vaccinated 3 days ago, theoretically different. ”