The beginning of the end? What will happen to kneeling at the Euro?

There are certainly many issues and opinions that unite Europe, but there are some ways in which Europe and European society differ significantly. One such trend that is completely misunderstood, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, is kneeling before a match. What will it be like at the Euros? Who will kneel and who will not?

Kneeling before a game has become almost a “tradition” in the English Premier League, where kneeling before every game for the whole season. Otherwise, for those who don’t know what’s going on, kneeling before a game is supposed to be to fight racism and express support for the BLM movement.

Yes, we can probably all agree that racism is unacceptable in the 21st century. And no one would object to kneeling for, say, two weeks.

But to turn a more or less political gesture into a necessary pre-match mantra seems, at least to our middle-European eyes, like a thing that isn’t entirely necessary.

So what will it be like at the Euros? Which national teams will kneel and which will not? Football journalist Ondřej Nováček has made that clear.

Beware, meanwhile, even insular Scotland has decided not to kneel, which could cause a major upheaval in the British Isles. So only the English should kneel in our group.

The most kneeling group will be Group B, where the Belgians, Danes and Finns should kneel. The only team not kneeling will be Russia.

To kneel or not to kneel?

The question of kneeling/not kneeling is likely to become a big issue at the European Championships. England coach Gareth Southgate said in a recent interview

I don’t know, it’s sport and that’s why it should be about sport and not about social, political issues. UEFA is doing a tremendous job in the fight against racism, but nothing should be exaggerated, otherwise it can make people averse.

Hopefully we will not see the day when coaches and players are activists who convince their fans to change their behaviour, political views etc.

Sources: Ondřej Nováček, SPORTbible