England's football team are waging a culture war on supporters by continuing to take the knee before matches, GB News presenter Inaya Folarin Iman said on the Great British Breakfast.
Appearing on the show as a guest on Monday morning, Inaya and the Breakfast team discussed England's continued support of taking the knee, after a section of fans defied pleas to not boo the team.
Inaya said: "Most ordinary people wouldn't care but it's increasingly becoming a way to express your intellectual and moral superiority.
"Many people regard it as divisive... They're effectively waging a culture wage against the fans."
She added: "This gesture is foreign to some people, but ultimately we end up talking about this gesture and it's a pretty superficial conversations."
Fellow Great British Breakfast host Nana Akua agreed with Inaya, saying the gesture achieved little when it comes to resolving issues around racism.
"They've been doing it for a year and nothing has changed," she said.
England's Raheem Sterling (left) and Kalvin Phillips taking a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Nick Potts
Rebecca Hutson disagreed with Inaya and Nana, saying she was "very proud" to see the players take the knee.
"I have to say I was very proud to see the boys take the knee yesterday. It made me proud to be British," she said.
A group of England fans defied calls not to jeer the players as they took the knee before their Euro 2020 clash with Croatia. Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate, the Football Association and prime minister Boris Johnson all urged supporters not to boo the anti-racism stance.
But those requests fell on some deaf ears, with an audible round of jeers from some of the expected 22,500 crowd – although cheers from the vast majority soon drowned them out.
The Croatia national anthem was also booed and the reaction followed on from jeers at the two warm-up games played at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium – only this time the whole continent was watching as England fans returned to Wembley for the first time since November 2019.
Southgate said last week that he would not allow his players to continue to be questioned about the knee and the subsequent reaction once the tournament got under way.
A UEFA spokesman told the PA news agency ahead of the game the governing body cannot punish any nations whose supporters do react to the gesture.
“UEFA has a zero tolerance against racism and any player who wants to demand equality amongst human beings by taking the knee will be allowed to do so,” he said. “We urge spectators to show respect for teams and players taking the knee.
“UEFA will not take disciplinary action against the national association for their fans’ reaction to this initiative as there are no legal grounds to do so in the current competition and disciplinary regulations and to do so would be to punish a national association whose players have taken a stand against racism.”
