Premier League players set to TAKE THE KNEE again in battle against racism

The 20 club captains are said to be in support of the move, in the wake of Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo suffering vile racist abuse at Anfield on the opening day of the season.

"It's always been their choice," Masters told Sky News.

"It's never been something that has been forced upon them, either collectively or individually. They had another discussion in the summer.

"They're going to do it really at the No Room for Racism match rounds. We then decide whether they want to continue or stop. So I think they want to make sure whatever they do, it's effective."

During Bournemouth’s opening day fixture against Liverpool, referee Anthony Taylor halted play in the 29th minute after Semenyo alerted officials to the abuse coming from the stands.

The supporter in question was quickly ejected from the stadium and has since been arrested and subsequently banned from all football stadiums.

"A lot of our players and participants, managers, referees are subject to abuse, a lot of it racism,” Masters continued.

"And we're trying our best to deal with that, working with our stakeholders and working with the social media companies to try to solve those issues."

The Premier League initially announced the introduction of taking the knee upon football’s return after the Covid-19 pandemic in June 2020. The measures were taken after the killing of George Floyd.

Clubs made the gesture before every game until August 2022, when the league announced it would be reserved for “significant moments”.

The recent announcement comes after Tottenham Women rejected a proposal by the Women’s Super League last week to take the knee as a “symbol of solidarity against racism”, after Spurs and England forward Jessica Naz received racial abuse on social media last month.

A similar incident occurred during the Lionesses’ victorious 2025 European Championships campaign. Serena Wiegman’s side took the knee in all of their fixtures until the semi-final, when defender Jess Carter spoke out about the abuse she had received online.

LATEST SPORTS NEWS:

• Racing driver 'raped one of Michael Schumacher's nurses at F1 legend's family home' after cocktail party, prosecutors claim
• Mercedes finally confirm driver line-up for 2026 after George Russell contract drama
• Gareth Bale shares bankruptcy fears despite staggering £120million net worth

Carter’s England team-mate, Lucy Bronze, discussed their decision to stop the move, questioning whether the message was “hitting hard” anymore.

“We feel as a collective, is the message as strong as it used to be?” Bronze said at the time. “Is the message really hitting hard? Because it feels like it’s not if these things are still happening to our players in the biggest tournaments of their lives.

“More needs to be done in football and society, what that is right now as an individual, I don’t exactly know.”

During his recent interview, Premier League chief Masters discussed the permutations that come with social media.

"There's an anonymity to [social media], I think, which, perhaps wrongly, in my view, gives people the view that they can pretty much say and do what they want,” he said.

"And I just simply don't think it should be part of a professional footballer's life to have to put up with this sort of stuff, which is why we're taking what action we can.

"Obviously, anything that makes it easier [to find the perpetrators] I would be in principle supportive of, but I think it goes to a lot of other issues around freedom of information."