Football: Guehi does not kneel, initiative whistled at Stamford Bridge

The knee on the ground still divides English football. Marc Guehi, defender of Manchester City and the English national team, refused for the second consecutive week to participate in the symbolic gesture of the fight against racism, while on Saturday at Stamford Bridge, before Chelsea-Tottenham, the initiative was accompanied by some whistles from the stands. Episodes that reignite the debate on the effectiveness of a protest adopted by the Premier League in 2020, after the death of George Floyd in the United States.

Guehi, who in recent days had claimed that kneeling had "lost its meaning", remained standing before the match between Manchester City and Aston Villa, clapping instead of bending his knee. The same choice was made by other players, including Ipswich's Issa Diop, Leeds' Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Everton's Ainsley Maitland-Niles and the two Bournemouth footballers Rayan and Tyler Adams. The Premier League has scheduled the gesture for two weekends of the season, based on an agreement between the team captains. In fact, from 2022 the initiative will no longer be repeated before each match. But five years after its launch, doubts are growing among some protagonists that the symbol has lost part of its communicative power.

A position that also emerged in women's football. After the racist insults directed at teammate Jess Carter during the 2025 European Championships, the England players had decided not to kneel before the semi-final against Italy. Captain Lucy Bronze explained that she was no longer sure that the gesture sent an effective message, given the persistence of the abuse.

Piara Powar, head of the anti-discrimination organization Fare, has a different opinion, according to which kneeling remains "a powerful anti-racist act". The different positions thus reopen a question that goes beyond the ritual before kick-off: whether the gesture has exhausted its ability to raise awareness or whether, given the persistence of discrimination, it is still necessary to reiterate its meaning.