Crystal Palace won 1-0 on the weekend and Wilfried Zaha played the full 90 minutes for the first time since the end of January – fans are thankful for this much. But Zaha is as passionate off the pitch as he is on it and believes his voice is worth much more than just as a footballer. Prior to the game, Zaha stood as every other player and member of staff knelt on the pitch.
Following persistent cowardly abuse from those behind the screens, and in the stadiums before a COVID-induced ban from football, players took a knee on the pitch. And Zaha was at the centre of much of it – the abuse and the kneeling. This advocacy, along with many other strong voices before and with him, resulted in the Premier League and the FA erecting movements and organisations against this behaviour, including “No Room for Racism” and “Kick it Out”, respectively.
There is no denying that the kneeling of every player and staff member involved in the Premier League has raised everyone’s awareness to the matter. However, the racism and abuse towards athletes of all sports continues online, even after a 12-year-old was arrested for this exact reason in October last year.
Last month, Zaha appeared at the Financial Times Business Summit and deemed the continued kneeling without action as “degrading” and implored those around him to “stand tall” in the face of the lack of change.
Wayne Rooney’s Derby County confirmed that players would no longer be kneeling before kick-off earlier in March. While Bournemouth midfielder Arnaut Danjuma encouraged those around him to continue kneeling and highlighted its importance. So opinions on the matter of kneeling are split, yet the importance and intensity of their voices remains.
Zaha’s decision to stand up came in response to the inability of social media companies not to do so. The abuse continues to happen on their home soil and they have made no clear progressive movement to alleviate it. This is following online abuse aimed at Zaha’s team-mates and on-field foes, such as Patrick van Aanholt, Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger and Reece James and Manchester United Women’s Lauren James, amongst too many others.
Roy Hodgson has voiced his support of whatever Zaha intends to do on the topic of racism, identifying that the ‘ritualistic nature of ‘taking the knee’ is becoming too apparent’; fans are becoming desensitized to the issue.
On the weekend, Zaha finished his post-match interview with poise, confirming he aims to continue to use his influence to evoke change in those who can make it.
“I now just want to focus on football and enjoy being back playing on the pitch. I will continue to stand tall.”
