Premier League players will not face sanctions for in-game George Floyd protests, FA confirm
Premier League players will be able to show solidarity with the George Floyd justice campaign during games without facing sanctions after the Football Association endorsed Fifa's stance over in-game protests.
Floyd died in Minneapolis last week after video footage showed a white police officer, Derek Chauvin – who has since been charged with murder and manslaughter – kneeling on Floyd's neck before he died.
The incident has sparked mass protests across the United States and beyond, with demonstrators also gathering in London’s Trafalgar Square and outside the US Embassy on Sunday.
The world governing body earlier this week said "common sense" should be adopted when assessing justice protests which could be technical breaches of the laws of the game.
A statement read: "The FA strongly condemns discrimination of any kind and has endeavoured to ensure that football in England is both diverse and inclusive in recent years.
"Where any behaviours or gestures on the pitch that may constitute a breach of the Laws of the Game have to be assessed, they would be reviewed on a case by case basis with a common sense approach and understanding of their context.
"The power of football can break down barriers across communities and we remain deeply committed to removing all forms of discrimination from across the game we all love."
Under FA Law 4 Section 5, players are not supposed to have slogans, statements or images on their kit or other equipment which could be deemed as political.
The laws state that a match official should ask the player to leave the field and remove the item before returning to the field. But it seems the FA is prepared to judge examples of players taking the knee or similar actions on its own separate basis.
The FA's statement comes after Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho was booked for taking off his shirt to reveal a message of support amid widespread protests in America, while Borussia Monchengladbach's Marcus Thuram and Dortmund defender Achraf Hakimi also dedicated their goals to Floyd.
Kick It Out chairman Sanjay Bhandari believes all Premier League players, black or white, should consider protesting on the pitch.
“If you score a goal and take a knee, could everyone do that?” Bhandari told the Guardian. “Not just the black players. The white players too — everyone.
“Every player should do it. It should be teams doing it. Racism’s not about black players or brown fans. It’s about all of us. Racism corrodes society and we’re all hurt by it. Everyone should want to demonstrate their solidarity and disgust.
"I would like to encourage the players to protest if they want to, but I would also like to encourage them to do it in a way that doesn’t expose them to unnecessary sanction."
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