Yahoo Sports Chelsea star Marcos Alonso explains why he’s no longer taking the knee
Marcos Alonso has announced he will no longer take a knee before kick-off as the Chelsea wing-back claims the gesture is “losing strength”.
The Spaniard becomes the latest player to opt out of the pre-match gesture, which has been in place since the summer of 2020 after the Premier League restarted following the Covid pandemic.
Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha was the first Premier League player to opt out of the gesture, explaining that he felt taking a knee was “degrading”.
And now Alonso has confirmed he will no longer join his teammates in kneeling and will instead point to the Premier League ‘No Room for Racism’ badge on his sleeve.
“I am fully against racism and I’m against every type of discrimination, and I just prefer to put my finger to the badge where it says no to racism, like they do in some other sports and football in other countries,” Alonso said.
“I prefer to do it this way and, of course, to say very clearly that I am against racism and I respect everybody.
“I don’t know,” Alonso added when asked if his decision was influenced by politics. “I just prefer to do it this way. It’s my way to do it, I think it’s another way.
“And maybe I think it’s losing a bit of strength the other way, so I just prefer to do it this way and to show I am fully supportive of fighting against racism.”
Alonso is yet to discuss his decision with his teammates, with Reece James, Antonio Rudiger, N’Golo Kante and Romelu Lukaku all suffering from racist abuse in recent years.
“No, we haven’t talked about it,” Alonso confirmed. “We are in the changing room and we are like a family. I have a very good relationship with everyone, I love everyone and up to now we haven’t talked about it.
“I don’t think there is a need to, but, of course, if I have to speak to anyone, I will say the same thing I just told you and I don’t think there will be any problems.”
“Yeah, for now I prefer to point to the sleeve and that’s what I will do,” Alonso concluded when asked if the move would last until the end of the current campaign.
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