Liverpool players showed their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of African-American George Floyd in the United States by taking a knee around the center circle at Anfield on Monday.
The picture featuring 29 Reds players came with the caption “Unity is strength. #BlackLivesMatter”.
Reds stars including Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and their captain Johan Henderson tweeted the same photograph of the squad along with the words ‘Unity is strength’.
Black Lives Matter movement
Protests have been held after Floyd, an unarmed black man, died on 25 May after being restrained by white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes to pin him down.
The shocking incident has sparked protests in cities across the world and sparked strong reaction from the sporting world.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first protested against racial injustice and police brutality by kneeling down during the American national anthem in the summer of 2016. That gesture has since become symbolic to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford join in
Manchester United’s Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford added their voices to worldwide protests against racism.
The French World Cup winner added: “Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism EVERY DAY! Whether in football, at work, at school, ANYWHERE! This has to stop, once and for all. Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end TODAY!
“Racism is ignorance, LOVE is intelligence, STOP the silence, STOP racism.”
“At a time I’ve been asking people to come together, work together and be united, we appear to me more divided than ever,” said Rashford. “People are hurting and people need answers.
“Black lives matter. Black culture matters. Black communities matter. We matter.”
Rashford, 22, has followed his England team-mate Jadon Sancho in addressing the issue after the Borussia Dortmund winger said “we shouldn’t fear speaking out for what’s right”.
Sancho displayed a T-shirt with “Justice for George Floyd” written on it after scoring the first of his three goals in Dortmund’s 6-1 win over Paderborn on Sunday.
Former England captain David Beckham also posted on Instagram: “My heart goes out to George’s family and I stand in solidarity with the black community and millions of others across the world who are outraged by these events. It’s heartbreaking to see that in 2020 this is still happening.”
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