I don’t give a damn what the FA thinks about Israel – sport needs to drop politics

Taking the knee was a powerful way to amplify the message of Black Lives Matter, writes Jon Sopel. But football needs to stop its sanctimonious posturing and allow fans a place to escape what’s happening elsewhere in the world

Declan Rice and John Stones take the knee while representing England (POOL/AFP via Getty)

This weekend, Premier League football resumes after the international break with the Merseyside derby at lunchtime. There will be a minute’s silence before all matches and players will wear black armbands as a mark of respect for those who have died in Israel and Gaza.

I was reading a piece this week about my own football team – Tottenham Hotspur. Ahead of our match against Fulham on Monday night, there has been discussion about the divisions over how events in the Middle East should be marked and whether Israeli flags or Palestinian flags would be allowed. Tottenham is a club with a strong Jewish heritage. For full disclosure, I’m a season ticket holder and a Jew.

And to be honest, I just don’t really give much of a damn what either the FA thinks or the club. I will be going to the game to get away from this nightmare and shout myself hoarse for my football team – and probably swear at the referee when a decision goes against us. I don’t go to the theatre and stand, head bowed for whatever the passing cause is. I don’t go to see the Barbie movie to remember victims of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. So why has football got to have an opinion and a stance on any and every passing cause they choose to embrace?