Neymar knelt on the center circle, face on the ground, fist to the sky. Around the attacker from Paris Saint-Germain, all the other players on his team, those from opponents Istanbul Başakşehir – and the referees, kneeled. It was a powerful action in the fight against racism before that Champions League game that got so much attention. On Tuesday, both teams canceled the game after the fourth official had apparently racially insulted an Istanbul supervisor. The game was rescheduled on Wednesday – and the players use the stage to take a stand against discrimination.
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Jonas Baer-Hoffmann, General Secretary of the international players union Fifpro, was impressed by this action. And he says that it was not prescribed by Uefa, but came from the players and the clubs. The Paris incident drives professionals around the world. Since then, Baer-Hoffmann has had many discussions about it – and sees this as a possible starting point for far-reaching changes.
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