91Èȱ¬

A number of leading footballers have said they're going to stop taking a knee before matches.

Crystal Palace player Wilfried Zaha has become the first Premier League player to do so because he believes the protest is no longer enough.

"I feel like taking a knee is degrading," he told the FT Business of Football conference.

Championship side Brentford have also said their players won't take the knee, with striker Ivan Toney telling Sky Sports: "We are being used as puppets."

Since June, players, officials and staff at Premier League and EFL games have been taking a knee before kick-off to show support for the movement for racial equality.

Here's everything you need to know about taking a knee.

The first person to take a knee was American Football quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016.

He didn't like standing during the US national anthem before matches because he said he was "not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour."

After speaking with war veteran and former NFL player, Nate Boyer, he decided to kneel during the national anthem instead because he thought it was more respectful than sitting down.

Following the death of unarmed black man, George Floyd, in 2020, taking a knee became far more commonplace at demonstrations for racial equality around the world.

Since June, all Premier League and English Football League clubs have been taking a knee before each match.

There has been lots of debate about whether footballers taking a knee is effective at bringing about racial equality.

In September, Championship club Queens Park Rangers said they'd stop doing it before matches because it wasn't bringing about change.

QPR director of football, Les Ferdinand, said: "The message has been lost. It is now not dissimilar to a fancy hashtag or a nice pin badge."

Fellow Championship club, Brentford, have said their players will stop taking a knee before matches for similar reasons.

Striker, Ivan Toney, told Sky Sports that the gesture is allowing "people at the top" to rest on the subject and nothing has changed as a result.

England manager, Gareth Southgate, has said that the gesture remains extremely powerful and has not lost its message.

Crystal Palace player, Wilfried Zaha, said that taking a knee has been "degrading" and that footballers should instead "stand tall" against racism.

Speaking at the speaking at the Financial Times' Business of Football summit, he said: "I've said before that I feel like taking the knee is degrading and stuff because growing up my parents just let me know that I should be proud to be black no matter what and I feel like we should just stand tall.

"Trying to get the meaning behind it, it's becoming something that we just do now and that's not enough for me.

"I'm not going to take the knee, I'm not going to wear Black Lives Matter on the back of my shirt because it feels like it's a target.

"We're isolating ourselves, we're trying to say that we're equal but we're isolating ourselves with these things that aren't even working anyway, so that's my stand on it.

"I feel like we should stand tall and now I don't really tend to speak on racism and stuff like that because I'm not here just to tick boxes."

He added: "Unless action is going to happen, don't speak to me about it."