Officially .. revocation of the ban on bowing while playing the American anthem

The U.S. Football Association officially rescinded its controversial law on Saturday banning male and female players from kneeling while the national anthem is played after a vote at its annual general meeting.

The cancellation decision confirmed the recommendation of the American Union at the last meeting of its board of directors last June, and it was approved on Saturday by 71% of the members against 29%.

This rule was established in 2017, just after national team star Megan Rapinoe knelt on one knee during an international friendly in 2016, in solidarity with fellow San Francisco footballer Colin Capernick. , who knelt on one knee during the national anthem earlier in the same year, called on his country to protect the rights of Americans against police violence, especially blacks.

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Kneeling on one knee has become a symbolic sign of solidarity and has returned to the forefront during protests in the United States last summer, following the murder of black citizen George Floyd on May 25 by a police officer white who placed his knee on his neck for several minutes, and he didn’t bother to call on him in his inability to catch his breath.

The movement has spread to stadiums in Europe, where many players have shown solidarity with Floyd by kneeling on one knee.

The American Federation justified its decision to revoke the ban on kneeling by saying that “it became clear that this policy was wrong and undermined the important message of” Black Lives Matter “(Black Lives Matters).

He added: “We haven’t done enough to listen, especially our players, to understand and know the real and very important experiences of black people and other minority communities in our country. We apologize to the players, in especially our black players, employees, fans and all those who support the elimination of racism. “

Source: “AFP”

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