Chelsea star Marcos Alonso explains why he’s no longer taking the knee
The Spaniard insists the gesture is ‘losing strength’ and will instead point to the Premier League ‘No Room for Racism’ badge on his sleeve
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.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.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments