Five women’s soccer teams took a knee ahead of their opening matches at the 2020 Summer Games.
Great Britain and Chile teams took a knee on the pitch before their match, and the United States and Sweden teams knelt ahead of their clash on Wednesday. It’s been almost five years since former NFL player Colin Kaepernick knelt during a pre-game National Anthem to protest racial inequality. Since then, and especially since George Floyd’s death in police custody in May 2020, players of other sports and around the world have made the gesture in solidarity with the equality movement and against the oppression of people of color. „For us, it feels right to stand up for human rights. There was communication with the US team,“ Swedish defender Amanda Ilestedt said after the match.
