The tragic death of George Floyd re-ignited the ongoing discussions on police brutality and racial discrimination. This isn’t a new topic, and the debate has been going for many years, centuries even. But the Black Lives Matter movement brought it to center stage, and the debate about protest that is not new to major league sports in America is now coming back with a lot more force.
Starting with NFL quarterback Collin Kaepernick in 2016, Kaepernick who was then the quarterback of San Francisco 49ers kneeled during the playing of the national anthem before a game. The peaceful protest started a movement with quite a few athletes in the NFL following suit. And it got a response from President Donald Trump who referred to these protesters as “sons of bitches”.
Kaepernick left the 49ers following the incident and became a free agent. He was not drafted again by another team and after suing the league for colluding with the teams not to hire him, he settled with the NFL for an undisclosed sum. League Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted last week that the NFL made a mistake in how it handled the situation: “We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all players to speak out and peacefully protest,” he said to reporters.
The debate also transcended to other professional sports in America, and Megan Rapinoe, star and leading figure in the US women national soccer team kneeled during the national anthem before a USWNT game against Thailand in support of Kaepernick. In response, the U.S. Soccer Federation issued in 2017 a policy requiring “all persons representing the Federation’s national team to stand respectively during the playing of national anthems.” Rapinoe honored the policy ever since, and amidst current events the USSF is now considering to repeal the policy.
Major League Soccer has also been contemplating its response to the issue, and the MLS said this week that it does not intend to change any of its current policies of supporting peaceful protests by players or staff. Major League Soccer released a statement this week which reiterates its longstanding position on supporting the rights of players to peacefully protest during national anthems in pre-game ceremonies.
The MLS statement says: “While fostering an environment of diversity, equality and inclusion, Major League Soccer stands by the ideals of freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest…if players or staff decide to stand, kneel or otherwise exercise their right to peaceful protest during the playing of the national anthems before league games, we support them.”
MLS Commissioner Don Garber voiced his opinion in the past about the topic, sending 3 years ago a note to MLS staff in support of freedom of expression following the Kaepernick and Rapinoe protests.
