Borussia Dortmund vs Hertha Berlin: Bundesliga players kneel in tribute to George Floyd

Both teams gathered around the centre circle and knelt ahead of their league game

Mainz midfielder Pierre Kunde celebrates his goal by taking a knee (Getty)

Players of Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlin went down on one knee ahead of their Bundesliga game on Saturday in tribute to George Floyd, an unarmed black man whose death in US police custody has triggered protests around the world.

Both teams gathered around the centre circle and knelt ahead of their league game, which is being played in an empty Signal Iduna Park stadium in Dortmund due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The coaches and their staff on the benches also joined in.

Elsewhere the Mainz midfielder Pierre Kunde celebrated his goal in the win over Frankfurt by taking a knee.

Earlier this week the German Football Association (DFB) ruled that players were free to show their support for protests over the death of Floyd. Several players last week lifted their shirts to show messages in support of the protests. The DFB said it would take no action against symbols of solidarity with the protests in the US and across the world.

The protests have been sparked by the 25 May killing of Floyd in Minneapolis after a white officer detaining him knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes as fellow officers stood by.

Reuters