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TOKYO – The United States Women’s National Team and other soccer teams knelt before their Olympic opener kicks off on Wednesday, the first protests under slightly relaxed restrictions on events at the Games.
The protests were planned in advance, as they have been for over a year before various international football matches, as collective declarations against racism and other forms of discrimination. English Premier League players first popularized the gesture last summer in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and the ensuing racial justice calculation that spread from the United States to the world .
During the USA-Sweden match in an empty Tokyo stadium, at the sound of the referee’s whistle, the 11 starters of both teams, plus the referee, fell to one knee. They stood there for about 10 seconds with pre-game music still playing in the background. They then stood up and a short countdown in the stadium before kick-off began.
Several USWNT players have, individually and sometimes collectively, knelt down to protest racism in the past. Megan Rapinoe became the first white athlete to kneel during the national anthem shortly after Colin Kaepernick in 2017. Others have joined Rapinoe in protesting ahead of national team games since Floyd was assassinated in May 2020.
All 18 USWNT players sang the anthem on Wednesday. It is not clear whether a protest during the anthem would be acceptable under the new IOC rules. (National anthems are not played before most Olympic events – only afterwards, at medal ceremonies.)
The players from Great Britain and Chile also knelt ahead of their game on Wednesday. They were, officially, the first to organize a demonstration before the event which was acceptable under IOC rules.
The infamous Rule 50 had long banned most forms of protest at Olympic events. In January 2020, the IOC specifically prohibited kneeling and raising a fist, among other acts, at all Olympic venues, at any time before, during or after a competition.
But pressure from athletes who felt the rules violated their freedom of expression – and especially black athletes, some of whom felt targeted by the guidelines – increased from last June. The Athlete Advisory Council of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee called for the abolition of the 50 rule last summer. The USOPC, after forming a racial and social justice council, followed up by calling on the IOC to “end the ban on peaceful protests” at the Games.
In response, the IOC organized a lengthy review of the rule. He initially announced that he would effectively maintain the restrictions. But athletes, like American hammer thrower Gwen Berry, have said the rules won’t stop them from protesting racial injustice. The IOC essentially sought a compromise and announced in early July that pre-competition demonstrations would be allowed.
However, protests during competitions and medal ceremonies are still prohibited.
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