Premier League player names to be replaced with Black Lives Matter when season resumes

The Premier League season resumes next week

Sports Staff
Friday 12 June 2020 08:33 BST
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Nicolas Pepe, Matteo Guendouzi and Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal take a knee
Nicolas Pepe, Matteo Guendouzi and Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal take a knee

Players are set to wear ‘Black Lives Matter’ messages on their shirts instead of their surnames when the Premier League resumes next week.

During a conference call on Thursday, clubs discussed how players can use games to join growing calls to eradicate racial injustice in society following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on 25 May.

Plans for the messages on kits are yet to be finalised but there is a growing support behind the move ahead of the league restarting on Wednesday following a 100-day shutdown because of the coronavirus.

Clubs have also discussed the National Health Service logo appearing on playing shirts.

Players from several Premier League teams have been pictured this week in training taking a knee as part of anti-racism gestures sparked by the death of Floyd, who died after a white police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleaded for air.

The laws of the game prohibit “any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images” on matchday equipment but the Football Association has said “common sense” would be applied when assessing the context of on-field messages.

That followed a new stance from Fifa adopted after players in the German Bundesliga had “Justice for George Floyd” messages on — or under — their shirts.

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